


Despair

by Dida_Mac



Series: Despair [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23729113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dida_Mac/pseuds/Dida_Mac
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir are older and have grown closer. However, when Ladybug lashes out at him, she's not ready for the consequences.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Series: Despair [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709335
Comments: 11
Kudos: 60





	1. Marinette

**Author's Note:**

> I’m starting to bring this story slowly over to this site and learning how to work with this system, so bare with me.

Ladybug felt her stomach clenching as she nervously laid next to her blonde partner. She knew that she had wanted their interaction, but she couldn't help feeling guilty about it. Despite everything, the twenty-two year old woman still loved her high school crush. Meanwhile, she didn't even know the identity of the man laying next to her. She felt nervous and sick to her stomach. Slowly, she tried to ease herself out of the compromising position. Chat had his arms around her and one of his legs was still entwined with hers.

As Ladybug moved, Chat was disturbed. His eyes fluttered open and he stared at her for a moment before flashing her a brilliant, bright smile. "M'lady? Why are you up at this time?" he asked. Ladybug bit her lip.

"We need to go before our transformations wear off." She said hesitantly. She could see the smile slowly drop from Chat's face. They hadn't fought an akuma that night so she knew that they had plenty of time before their transformations would wear off and so did he.

"But…" he started.

"No, Chat. We can't know each other's identities." She said firmly.

"I thought that since…" he trailed off as she got up and grabbed her suit. He watched as she pulled the suit back on with some effort.

"Chat, we can't." Ladybug stated quickly to keep him from enquiring further.

"Ladybug, you need to know that I won't tell anyone. I would never tell anyone who you are. I lo…" Ladybug cut him off.

"Just stop." She said, closing her eyes and holding her hand up to keep him from finishing that statement. She wouldn't look at him. She couldn't. She knew that part of her heart would belong to him forever, but she still couldn't help the fact that she didn't love him. She couldn't love him. Not completely anyway. Her heart was split between him and a blond model.

"No, I won't stop. Ladybug, please don't go." He said, sitting up and grabbing his suit, prepared to go after her.

"Chat, I shouldn't have…I just need to go." She said, not wanting to hurt him.

"M'lady. I…please stop. Please wait." He said as he pulled his own suit on. He stood as he zipped up the front of his suit. Ladybug turned away from him and faced the wall. She felt his arms snake around her waist and she put her arms up in a silent request for him to not touch her. Chat didn't take her hint.

"I can't do this, Chat." She said.

"But we…I thought you felt the same…" he said, his arms growing slack around her. Ladybug felt a tear slip out of her eye as she stayed in his embrace briefly. She didn't know why she did, but she knew that she should move.

"You thought wrong." Ladybug stated, her voice cracking. "I don't feel the same way." She said. Chat's arms only tightened around her again.

"You're lying. You wouldn't have…we wouldn't have made love if you didn't feel the same way. You wouldn't have done that." He said. "You can't expect me to believe that you don't care." He added. He let out a small cry which shattered Ladybug's already broken heart.

"Chat, just leave me alone. I need to go." She said. He refused to let her go, though. "Please." She stated.

"No. You can't just leave me. Not again!" he said. "Every time we get close, you pull away. I just want you to stay. You can't ignore me anymore." He said.

"Just go away you stupid cat. I never want to see you again." She said, tears leaking out of her eyes as she shoved his arms off of her and ran to jump out of the window, tossing her yoyo as she fell from the abandoned building. She quickly made her way to her apartment and entered through her balcony. Her transformation dropped as soon as she was inside the apartment.

"You shouldn't be so rough on Chat Noir." Tikki stated as she came out of the miraculous. "You're just as responsible for what happened as he is." She added.

"Please don't, Tikki." Marinette said as she made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and got in. After a moment under the lukewarm water, she sank down to the floor, crying. Ever since their first kiss, their first real kiss, Marinette had felt guilty. She would stop, she told herself. She wouldn't let it get out of hand. She would tell him the next time she saw him that it was done. She would stay away.

And yet, every time she told him it was done she would kiss him again. She just couldn't help it. She was attracted to her kitty. She didn't want to be. She was in love with Adrien. She couldn't love Chat, too. At least not to the extent that he deserved. She couldn't give him all of her heart. And yet, she'd given him all of her body. She'd given him her first kiss and now she'd given him her virginity.

She cried in the shower long after the water ran cold. She didn't know how she was going to go to work tomorrow. How she was going to face her boss's son. She had gotten a position as a designer under Gabriel Agreste and she saw Adrien almost every day as he was groomed to take over the label. Eventually, she turned the water off and sat on the cold shower floor, continuing to cry.

"It's okay, Marinette. Chat loves you. He wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Tikki said quietly as she flew to her chosen. "He would do anything for you."

"I wouldn't do anything for him." Marinette replied, her head buried in her arms as they rested on her legs.

"Yes, you would. Ladybug would do anything for her Chat Noir." Tikki replied, laying against the back of Marinette's head.

"No, I wouldn't. I would never stop loving Adrien for him. I can't do anything for my Chat Noir." She said without looking at Tikki.

"Marinette…" Tikki trailed off.

"Just leave me alone, Tikki." Marinette sobbed.

"No, Marinette. I won't leave you alone." Tikki responded. "Don't push me away, Marinette. Don't push Chat Noir away." She added.

"I have to. I can't let us keep going the way that we are. We need to stop. But I can't." she said. "I just can't stop. I want to stop, but I can't. I tell him that we aren't going to do anymore and then I sleep with him." She cried.

"Just give it some time, Marinette. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning." Tikki stated. Marinette shook her head, but eventually she stood and covered herself in her robe. She didn't even have to towel herself dry as she had cried for so long that she was dry except for her dripping pigtails. She crawled into bed and started to cry again. She cried until she fell asleep with her kwami stroking her cheek comfortingly.

The next morning, she nervously went to work. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she made her way into the building. She went to her office and sat down at her desk immediately and started working on her current project. She was oblivious to those around her until she heard Adrien's name.

"Hey, have you seen Adrien? He's late." The woman said in the hallway.

"No, haven't seen or heard from him." A man replied.

"Someone should tell Gabriel." The woman said.

"I'm not telling him." The man stated.

Marinette's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine why Adrien would be late to work. She quickly checked the news on her phone. There was no update of any akuma attack. She started to worry, though. What had happened to him? She quickly pulled up his phone number on her phone and her finger hovered over the call button. She debated quickly as to whether she should call him. Eventually, she pushed the button. She held the phone up to her ear as she waited impatiently for him to answer. The call went to voicemail. "Hey, A-Adrien. It's Marinette. Just wanting to make sure that you're all right since you were supposed to be here. If you need…anything just send me a text." She said before sending the message. She found out quickly that she didn't have to send the message. Adrien came in only a few minutes later.

"Sorry, I had to…do something." He said pausing to think for a moment. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Marinette froze. His voice sounded different. He sounded upset. She wondered what could have happened to make him upset. She almost wanted to go and check on him, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to. She didn't know if she would ever be able to face him after what happened last night.

_Chat brushed his hand against her cheek as they were about to say goodbye after the uneventful patrol._

She shook her head as if doing so would shake the memories of last night out of her head. She focused on the drawing that she was creating.

_Chat leaned down and kissed her gently, one hand snaking around to the back of her head._

Marinette felt tears welling up in her eyes again as she remembered her deepening the kiss by licking his lower lip to show her want. How could she have wanted that? What had possessed her? Marinette bit her lip as she focused on the design in front of her.

_Chat extended his baton as he slipped his arm around Ladybug. He swung across the street to a building that they knew was abandoned. Sometimes they would sleep here, separately. They had agreed to bring blankets to this building in case of late patrols. Eventually, Chat had even brought in a mattress. When they swung into the building Chat couldn't help himself. He reached up and pulled at the collar to Ladybug's outfit._

_Ladybug didn't stop kissing him as he peeled off the suit. She pulled on the bell near his collar to unzip his. They didn't break contact as her yoyo and his baton fell to the floor with loud thuds. They backed up to the mattress where they finally broke the kiss. Ladybug laid down first and kicked off her suit. She didn't know what she was thinking. She couldn't help herself. She was just stuck in the moment as Chat removed his suit as well. They resumed their assault on each other's lips until Chat pulled back._

_"You want this, right?" he asked, his green eyes filled with worry. Ladybug just nodded and kissed him again._

"Hi Marinette." The voice rang out from behind her. Adrien sounded slightly happier than he had been in the hallway, but he still wasn't his normal self.

"Adrien. Hi." She said.

"How are the designs coming?" he asked as he stepped up to her desk beside her to look at the sketches. Marinette didn't say a word as he looked at the book. She just focused on keeping her eyes away from him. She couldn't look at him, not after last night. She felt like she had betrayed him even though they weren't together. And now, here with him, she felt like she was betraying Chat because of the way her heart skipped as Adrien leaned closer to get a better look at her designs over her shoulder. "These are wonderful, Marinette." He said, his voice sounding dull compared to its normal cheery tone.

"Thank you." Marinette said. Adrien turned to leave and Marinette couldn't help herself. "Adrien?" she asked.

"Yes, Marinette?" he responded at the door to her little office.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He paused. "Yeah, I'm okay now." He said, but it didn't sound convincing.

"Do you…do you want to talk about it?" she asked. She couldn't stand the thought of him being in pain.

"Just personal stuff. Nothing to worry about." He said. "I've handled it." He added almost as an afterthought.

"Okay. If you need anything at all, just ask." She said, realizing just how off her tone was today as well.

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied. Marinette continued her work. She was coming up with a portfolio for the autumn showcase. She knew that she should focus on her work, but two blond boys kept running through her mind. She closed her eyes, knowing that she needed to apologize to Chat. She just didn't know how she would face him.

That night she went on patrol as normal. It wasn't a shared patrol tonight, but she figured that Chat would come out anyway. She was disappointed when she didn't see her partner running across the rooftops. She found herself across the street from that building and swung inside on the off chance that he was there. What she found terrified her. He had destroyed everything. He had shredded the mattress and blankets with his claws. He had used his Cataclysm on a large portion of the floor. There were holes along many different areas of the walls where she assumed that he punched.

"Oh, Kitty. I'm so sorry. I never should have let this go this far." Ladybug said as she looked at the wreckage that was in front of her. "I should have stayed and talked." She mused. Slowly, she turned and made her way to her apartment.

The next day was uneventful, but she had been looking forward to the night. She was supposed to have the night off, but she knew she needed to see Chat. She needed to apologize. They needed to figure out where to go from that night. She made her way over the rooftops and found herself roaming around the entire city.

She paused on one of the taller rooftops, looking out around her. "L-Ladybug?" she heard a familiar voice call out below her and she felt a pit form in her stomach. She looked down to see the blond. "What are you doing?" Adrien asked.

Ladybug looked at him sadly before looking back at the rooftops. "I…hurt someone and was hoping to find him." She said. She didn't notice the tears that were running down Adrien's cheeks because she couldn't look at him again. "I'm sorry…for disturbing you." She said before throwing her yoyo.

"Wait, Ladybug." He called, but she was sailing through the air. Of all the rooftops she had to land on, of course it was Adrien's. She never could get used to where he had moved to. She didn't even know why he moved out of the Agreste Manor other than that he stated he needed his own space. If he had still lived there, she never would have made the mistake of getting so close to him.

She roamed the city until the horizon started to grow brighter. She then made her way back to her apartment and got ready for the day. "You don't look so good, Marinette. Why don't you take the day off?" Tikki asked.

"I can't, Tikki. I have to finish that portfolio." She stated as she took a quick shower and made coffee. She had another uneventful day at work. Another day of trying her best to avoid Adrien, not that he seemed too chatty.

That night, she went out again. It was her turn to patrol again. The next night they were set to patrol together. She completed her patrol without seeing her leather-clad partner. "Where are you, Chat?" she asked no one in particular. She found herself wanting an akuma to attack. At least that would probably draw her partner out of hiding long enough for her to say that she was sorry.

The next day, she got her wish. Mme. Disaster struck in the morning on Marinette's way to work. She was coming up from the train station when she heard the screaming. She quickly transformed in an alcove and made her way to the street. "I will not be the clumsiest person anymore." The purple haired woman with a white and red face shouted at people passing by. She aimed a crutch at a group of people and shot purple dust at them. They were soon engulfed as they ran. None of them were able to stay upright after they were hit. They all tripped and when they got up, they started running and tripped again.

"Stop right there." Ladybug shouted, holding her yoyo at the ready. She glanced around for Chat, but didn't see him anywhere. Her eyes did land on something that scared her more than it probably should considering that this akuma didn't seem to be doing too much damage. She saw Adrien with wide eyes across the street. He was clutching at the inner pocket to his button-down shirt. She wanted to shout at him to run, but she didn't want to bring attention to him. Instead, she focused on the victim. "Whatever happened, this doesn't have to go like this. You can stop this at any time." She said.

"I don't want to stop it. I don't want to be laughed at anymore. It's my turn to laugh." The akuma said as she pointed her crutch at Ladybug. Ladybug froze. She knew she should get out of the way, but she just couldn't. And just as the akuma shot dust at her, she found herself being knocked off her feet and tumbling over the ground.

"Chat, I was ho…" she started as they came to a stop with her savior on top of her. When she looked up, though, she saw Adrien's face. "Y-you need to go. This is no place for civilians." She said.

"You needed help and Chat Noir wasn't going to show up to help you." He said quickly.

"He will show up. Now go. Get out of here before you get hurt." She said as he moved off of her and she got up. "I need you to go." She added. She turned to see the akuma aiming at them again. She grabbed Adrien and used her yoyo to move out of the way of the dust. "Get to cover." She said as they landed. She then swung again to get away from the area.

"What do we have here?" a voice called from behind her when she landed. She didn't recognize the voice and turned to see Chat Noir. But it wasn't Chat Noir. He may have been wearing the suit, but his skin was dark and his hair was black. His eyes were an amber color and he wasn't wearing Chat's signature grin.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Chat Noir." He responded.

"No you're not." She replied.

"Let's take care of the akuma." He said before using his baton to spring forward as he aimed to attack the akuma from above. Ladybug's jaw just dropped. She had never seen anything that was able to replicate Chat's staff. She suddenly worried. Was her kitty akumatized? Was that why he hadn't been around? Could they even get akumatized? "What are you doing? Get the akuma!" he shouted at her. Ladybug shook her head as she saw the black butterfly flying away. She quickly caught it with her yoyo and released the purified butterfly.

She had missed the entire fight. "Who are you?" she suddenly asked when the strange man who helped her came back into view.

"I told you, I'm Chat Noir. Well, I'm the new Chat Noir." He said.

"N-new Chat Noir?" she asked.

"Yeah." He responded.

"Where's my Chat Noir?" she asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I don't know, I just found this box in my living room and this thing popped out claiming to be a…kwami? He told me that the old Chat Noir had returned him to the Grand Master." He said.

"M-my Chat Noir wouldn't abandon me. He just wouldn't." she said.

"He did. He's not coming back. I'm Chat Noir now." He said.

"No." Ladybug replied.

"You can either deal with this or you can give up your Miraculous." The new Chat said. There were no puns or jokes coming from this Chat Noir. Ladybug was about to respond when she heard beeping coming from his ring. "Gotta go. Catch ya later, Ladybug." He said before he used his baton to leave her alone in the street.

"Ladybug?" a timid voice called to her. Ladybug looked up to see the last person on the planet that she wanted to see aside from the new Chat Noir. Adrien was standing on the street corner. "Let's get you out of the street." He said as he made his way closer to her cautiously.

"I…" she trailed off as tears flowed from her eyes. "I have to go." She said, but she didn't move. She felt Adrien's hand grasp hers and he gently led her to the sidewalk. "I really need to go." She said.

"Y-you really miss Chat Noir, don't you?" Adrien asked, his vibrant green eyes filled with sadness. Ladybug couldn't bring herself to speak. Instead she just cried as Adrien put his arms around her. "It's okay." He said softly.

"No, i-it's n-n-not." She said through sobs. "I didn't g-get the chance to t-tell him tha-t I-'m s-s-sorry and that I l-love him." She cried into Adrien's shoulder.

"I'm sure he knows." Adrien replied.

"I'll n-never get to s-s-see him again." She cried. Ladybug didn't even notice all of the people that started to crowd around or all of the flashes from people taking photos of her vulnerable moment. She wouldn't realize until later. In this moment, nothing mattered to her because Chat Noir, her Chat Noir, was gone forever.


	2. Adrien

Chat's eyes remained wide as his Lady jumped from the window of their hideaway. He could barely breathe. She had told him that it was okay. She hadn't given him any indication that what they had done was something that she didn't want. He had tried to please her as best as he could. And she was pushing him away again. He was speechless as he stood there for what felt like hours, just staring at the window. Part of him was hoping that she would come back. Part of him never wanted to see her again. Why was she always pushing him away? He turned toward the room, rage starting to fill him.

His Lady had opened herself up to him. She had played with his feelings again. He felt disgusted with himself and enraged at her as his eyes landed on the mattress. He let out a shout that was partially from the pain that he was feeling, but mostly from the blind rage that was starting to fill him. He was going to destroy the mattress if it was the last thing he did. He was about to use his cataclysm on it, but the decided against it. No, this evil reminder of their time together needed something more than cataclysm. It needed for him to destroy it personally. He pounced on the bedding and started to slash at it. He tried to take out all of his rage on the mattress.

When it was thoroughly shredded, he turned to the blankets and destroyed them as well. He left them in ribbons on the ground. With nothing left to shred he let out another shout before he punched the wall. It gave him a little bit of release for his anger as a hole appeared, but it wasn't nearly enough. He needed to destroy more of this room. He pulled his hand back and punched again. He repeated this until he looked at the room. He was disgusted with the entire room. He needed to destroy it as well. He needed this place to be wiped from the planet.

"Cataclysm" he shouted angrily as he pounced to the middle of the room and ran his hand along the floor. A wide area of the wooden floor disintegrated under his hand going through all the layers that separated this floor from the one below and leaving a giant gaping hole in the middle of the floor. That wasn't enough. More of the room needed to be destroyed. Chat used his staff to vault across the room and punch the walls some more. He continued punching until his ring started to beep. Cursing, he knew he had to get home. Plagg was going to need lots of camembert for what had gone on tonight.

Chat didn't want to leave any part of the room standing, but he knew that he needed to go. He vaulted through the city to his apartment and the transformation dropped as he sailed through the open window to his bedroom. "What the hell was that?" Plagg demanded wearily as he exited the Miraculous.

"Here's your damn cheese." Adrien stated sourly as he grabbed a wheel of camembert from the refrigerator.

"Look, you knew Ladybug wouldn't stay. She never does. She always pushes you away for that mystery man of hers." Plagg stated as he dove to the box of camembert and started to go through the wheel.

"She had sex with me, Plagg." He said angrily. "She wouldn't have done that if she didn't have some kind of feelings for me." He said.

"Look, you need to get better control of your feelings. There is no way that you should be unleashing like that. You could hurt people!" Plagg said. Adrien knew that the kwami was right.

"Shut up. I don't need a lecture." He said. "I need some time off to cool down." He added.

"You can't take time off. What would Ladybug do without you?" Plagg asked.

"I don't give a damn about what Ladybug would do without me. She can rot for all I care." Adrien seethed.

"I know you don't mean that, kid." Plagg stated nonchalantly.

"I do mean that, Plagg. I never want to see her again!" he said angrily as he thought about her.

_Chat's hands ran down Ladybug's side. He was intoxicated by the feeling of her skin against the pads of his fingers. He never wanted to let her go. Their kiss deepened as he worshipped her body. He focused on the way her muscles clenched and she gasped into his mouth as his fingers explored her. He made her gasp again and again as much as he could handle before pulling back again._

_"I don't want to do anything that you don't want." He said again, worried. Over the years, she had grown closer to him. Each time she did, though, she would violently pull away after. Every time she kissed him. Every time they made out. Every time he thought they would finally be together she would pull back._

_"I want this." She said. His heart soared as he kissed her again passionately. There had been no hesitation, no worry or regret in her voice. She wanted this. She wanted him. He dared to hope that they would be together, that she was over the crush of hers as his hands started to explore again._

"You and I both know that at the next akuma attack, you're going to protect her again. It's in your nature, kid." Plagg stated.

"No, I won't. I'm not going to go anywhere near her, Plagg. She can handle the akumas alone from now on." Adrien growled.

"No, she can't, buddy." Plagg stated.

"Then she'll get a new Chat Noir." Adrien said angrily. Before Plagg could respond, Adrien yanked the ring from his finger. It turned back to black with a green paw print on it. He grabbed the box out of his dresser and immediately stowed the ring. He then started to pace. There was no way that he would help Ladybug again. She didn't care about him. She just used him. She used him in akuma battles and now she used him in the bedroom. Adrien growled. He wasn't going to be used again. He stormed out of the apartment and down to the street. He made his way through the streets to Master Fu's. He knocked loudly on the door.

"Master Fu?" he shouted just before the door opened to a very tired old Chinese man.

"What is it Chat Noir?" he asked.

"I'm not Chat Noir, not anymore." Adrien said, holding the box out to Master Fu. Master Fu looked at the box briefly, then back up to Adrien.

"I can't take the Miraculous back, Chat. You are the chosen one for the ring. That won't change just because of what is going on. Come in and we can talk over some tea." Master Fu stated.

"I don't want to talk! I want to be rid of this curse!" Adrien growled angrily.

"Maybe you just need a bit of a rest. Come in." Master Fu stated firmly as he stepped aside to let Adrien into the room.

"I want it gone. I want Plagg gone, I want Ladybug gone. I want to have my life back!" Adrien said as he entered the building.

"Even I can't change fate. You are the chosen one." Master Fu stated.

"Chosen by who?" Adrien asked.

"I think the better question is why you want to run from?" the Grand Master asked.

"I'm just done with this. I'm done with being Chat Noir." Adrien said.

"What happened?" Master Fu pressed.

"I'm not talking about this! Are you going to take the ring or not?" Adrien shouted, frustrated that Master Fu wasn't helping him.

"I cannot." Master Fu responded.

"Fine, I'll deal with it myself." Adrien shouted, turning and leaving in a huff.

"He'll calm down." He heard Master Fu say to Wayzz as the door shut behind him.

Adrien walked back to his apartment and sat on his couch with the box sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He couldn't imagine what he could do. If Master Fu wouldn't take the Miraculous back, he would have to handle the situation on his own.

"I guess I could just not put it back on." He said. He quickly realized that that plan wouldn't work. Ladybug would need him eventually. They were a team. She wouldn't be able to handle all of the akumas alone. He groaned as he opened the box and shoved the ring back onto his hand.

"Don't you dare do that to me again, kid." Plagg said angrily. Adrien hung his head.

"I'm sorry, Plagg, I shouldn't have punished you for this. I figured that I could get Master Fu to choose a new Chat Noir, but he wouldn't. I can't fight with Ladybug anymore, though. I just can't." he said. Plagg's expression softened.

"We can work something out. You are the chosen one, but you're not the only one who can use the Miraculous. Just like with how Hawkmoth wasn't actually chosen by the moth brooch." Plagg said. "But you had better be careful with who you give me to. And they can't know who you are." Plagg said.

"So, you'll help me?" Adrien asked.

"Of course, I'll help you, kid. But this is only temporary. And I better get a lot of camembert!" Plagg said. Adrien smiled at the kwami, but now he had another problem. He had to figure out who he could give the Miraculous to, someone trustworthy who would still be willing to give it back to him eventually.

Truthfully, after thinking about it, Adrien knew that he didn't want to give up being Chat Noir forever. However, he did need a break. "And you won't tell the new guy who I am?" he asked after a moment.

"No. And you had better get your life in order quickly." Plagg said. Adrien nodded. He had an idea of who he could pass the Miraculous off to. First he thought that he would give it to Nino, but then he decided to give it to someone who he could keep more of an eye on.

The next morning, he made his way to where his target lived. He watched as the man helped an elderly gentleman across the street. He smiled, the action reassuring him that this was the right choice. "Are you sure about this guy? I don't like him." Plagg said.

"I'm sure, Plagg." Adrien said.

"Wait, how are you going to get me back?" Plagg asked, suddenly realizing the flaw to their plan.

"I'll figure it out. Claws out." He said, transforming only long enough to get out of the street and up into the man's apartment. It was a small apartment. Adrien took off the ring and placed it into the small black box that it had come in. He set the box gently on the counter. He grabbed a wheel of camembert out of his bag and putting it into the small refrigerator.

He then made his way to work, hoping that he would be able to make it on time. He felt his phone vibrating as he was within a block of the building. He ignored it as he walked. He hoped that no akumas would attack before the man got the ring.

When he got into his father's building, he saw Nathalie. He saw that she was about to say something and he assumed it was because of his tardiness. "Sorry, I had to…do something." He said. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Nathalie went over his schedule. He was to oversee the running of the business for the day. He decided to start by reviewing Marinette's designs. He knew that she was creating a portfolio for the autumn showcase.

"Hi Marinette." He said in a lighter voice than he'd used out in the hallway. He couldn't say that he was upset to see the raven-haired woman that he'd known since freshman year.

"Adrien. Hi." She said, sounding nervous. She didn't turn to look at him, though. It was unusual even for Marinette.

"How are the designs coming?" he asked as he moved to look over her shoulder. He glanced down at her work and shifted through the designs in front of her. "These are wonderful,  
Marinette." He said. They would certainly please his father.

"Thank you." Marinette said. Adrien turned to leave but was stopped at the door as her voice rang out behind him hesitantly. "Adrien?" she asked.

"Yes, Marinette?" he responded, turning back toward her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He paused, thinking about what had happened the previous night. "Yeah, I'm okay now." He said, but he knew it didn't sound convincing.

"Do you…do you want to talk about it?" she asked. Adrien smiled slightly. It felt nice to know that someone as nice as Marinette.

"Just personal stuff. Nothing to worry about." He said, knowing that he still wouldn't be able to reveal himself as Chat Noir. After all, he would be taking up the mantle again eventually, probably. "I've handled it." He added simply.

"Okay. If you need anything at all, just ask." She said, her voice cracking.

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied, realizing just how off her voice sounded. He looked back at her for a moment. He was going to go and see if she was okay, but Nathalie was waiting for him just outside the door. He went about the rest of his duties. When he was done for the day, he stopped by Marinette's office again to catch up and see if she was okay, but she had already left for the day. He sighed and went to catch the train to get to his apartment. He settled down for what he thought would be a boring night. He was already starting to miss Plagg.

Adrien picked up his phone and called Nino. "Hey, Dude. Long time no see." His friend answered the phone.

"Yeah, I've been kinda busy. Want to come over and catch up?" Adrien asked.

"No can do, Dude. I've got a date with Alya in an hour." Nino replied.

"When are you going to just ask her to marry you?" Adrien asked with a smirk.

"Shhh. It'll happen eventually." Nino responded.

"You know you actually have to ask in order for it to happen, right?" Adrien teased.

"Don't tell anyone this, but I actually have a ring. I'm just waiting for the right moment." Nino said.

"Seriously?" Adrien asked.

"Seriously, Dude." Nino responded. "Well, I gotta go. Need to make sure that I'm set for that date." He said.

"Okay. Have a good date." Adrien said. He sighed, not sure of what to do. He turned on his videogame system and started a game. However, he couldn't really get into the game. He went over to his window to look out at the city. It was Ladybug's turn to patrol and part of him wanted to catch a glimpse of her to make sure that she was alright. He had the penthouse suite and knew that if she was patrolling, he'd probably be able to see her.

"Why should I care?" he asked angrily, folding his arms. "She's the one who walked out on you, remember?" he asked himself, scowling as he continued to look out of the window.

The next day at work was uneventful and he went back to his house after. Part of him wanted to go out, but he decided against it. He started to feel guilty. Tonight he should be out patrolling. He doubted Plagg would have told the new Chat Noir about the patrol. Plagg was so lazy that he wouldn't do anything if he didn't have to.

He looked out at the city, hoping to see his replacement. That was when he heard the thump of someone landing on his roof. He looked up expecting to see Chat Noir. Instead, he saw her.

"L-Ladybug?" he asked, seeing her distressed look. "What are you doing?" Adrien asked.

Ladybug looked down at him. He could see sadness in her eyes. Just seeing her was like having his heart ripped out again. He felt tears well up in the corners of his eyes. "I…hurt someone and was hoping to find him." She said. He couldn't help it, those tears escaped his eyes as he stared at her. Was it him that she was looking for? "I'm sorry…for disturbing you." She said before throwing her yoyo.

"Wait, Ladybug." He called as she swung away. He had to tell her. If she really was looking for him, then he needed to stop her. She wasn't going to find him. But she was gone before he got the chance to say anything. "Ladybug." He said, thinking about how distressed she'd looked. He didn't see her again the next two nights, but he did notice a certain designer becoming more and more distressed. He assumed that Marinette was just stressed about her designs and so he steered clear of her to try to take pressure off of her.  
However, on his way to work one morning, he saw the first akuma since he gave away his Miraculous. He stood by, using a car as cover as he watched the akuma wreaking havoc. He looked at his hand, seeing his naked finger. He grimaced as he watched Ladybug come out of the subway station.

"Stop right there." Ladybug shouted, holding her yoyo at the ready. She glanced around. Adrien didn't know what she could be looking for. Then Ladybug's eyes locked with his. He clutched at the inner pocket to his button-down shirt, wishing that Plagg had been there. She looked away from him and focused on the victim. "Whatever happened, this doesn't have to go like this. You can stop this at any time." She said.

"I don't want to stop it. I don't want to be laughed at anymore. It's my turn to laugh." The akuma said as she pointed her crutch at Ladybug. Adrien watched as Ladybug froze. She wasn't moving. His eyes widened as he kept expecting her to dodge. When she didn't, he ran across the street and tackled her. The two of them tumbled along the ground, coming to a stop with him on top of her.

"Chat, I was ho…" she started before she looked at him. "Y-you need to go. This is no place for civilians." She said when she realized that it was Adrien on top of her, not Chat.  
"You needed help and Chat Noir wasn't going to show up to help you." He said quickly.

"He will show up. Now go. Get out of here before you get hurt." She said as he moved off of her and she got up. "I need you to go." She added as she turned. Adrien scowled at her and was about to respond when she grabbed him and flew through the air with him. "Get to cover." She said as they landed. She then swung again to get away from the area. Adrien just watched her as he hid behind a car. She landed at the street junction and then turned. A horrified look crossed her face. "Who are you?" she asked someone who was down the street that Adrien couldn't see. He couldn't hear the person's response, but he did hear her say, "No, you're not." As she froze. Then he saw why she was so horrified. It was his replacement.

The new Chat Noir jumped into action. He vaulted high into the air and brought the staff down on the akumatized victim, she dodged his attack. He spun the baton to knock her crutch away from its intended target, which at that moment was an almost catatonic Ladybug. Dust shot into the side of the building right next to Adrien and Chat swung his baton again, this time aiming for the akumatized victim herself. She turned and aimed the crutch at him and he used his staff to vault over the attack. Adrien watched, sure that he made the right choice.

The new Chat landed gracelessly and moved to attack Mme. Disaster again with the staff. Mme. Disaster instead made a large sweeping motion with her crutch that caught Chat's staff just right and sent it flying out of his hand. "Seriously?" he asked. Adrien didn't think. He just acted. He ran and grabbed Chat's staff, entering the fight himself.

"Get away from her." The new Chat shouted before he realized who was holding the staff. Adrien was twirling the baton expertly before taking it by one end and using it like a sword. "Adrien Agreste?" Chat asked dumbfounded. Adrien swung at the akuma before blocking an strike that she tried to make with the crutch as the new Chat made his way to him. "Thanks for getting my staff back, now get out of here before you get yourself hurt." He said.

"I'm kinda busy." Adrien replied as he blocked a strike from Mme. Disaster's crutch. He was too in the moment to remember that he wasn't Chat Noir.

"That's my staff." Chat said in an annoyed tone. Adrien paused for a moment and looked down at the staff in his hands. He suddenly realized that he wasn't supposed to be in this fight.

"Just trying to help out." He said, spinning the staff in such a way that he was able to hook the end into the crutch and toss it away. "The akuma is probably in the crutch." He said as he tossed the staff back to the new Chat Noir.

Chat Noir raised his hand into the air and shouted, "Cataclysm" before he jumped forward and grabbed her crutch. The metal rusted from where he grabbed and the whole crutch disintegrated. The akumatized victim fell to the ground, clutching her head as the akuma flew away.

Chat waited for a few moments for Ladybug to capture the akuma, before shouting at her. "What are you doing? Get the akuma!" he shouted. Ladybug seemed to come out of her fog and captured the akuma. She released a purified white butterfly and then turned on Chat.

Adrien watched from the sidewalk as Ladybug turned on Chat. "Who are you?" she asked angrily. The two went back and forth as Ladybug became more distressed. He wanted to come to Ladybug's defense as the new Chat snapped at her, but he didn't even have time as the man's Miraculous started to beep. Chat left quickly.

"Ladybug?" he asked after a moment. She looked at him, agony on her face. "Let's get you out of the street." He said as he made his way closer to her cautiously. His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't stand seeing her teary eyes.

"I…" she trailed off as tears flowed from her eyes. "I have to go." She said, but she didn't move as he came closer. He grabbed her hand and gently led her to the sidewalk. "I really need to go." She said, but he could tell she wasn't going to. She was in shock.

"Y-you really miss Chat Noir, don't you?" Adrien asked, realizing that she was crushed. He knew that she cared for him in some way, but he didn't think that she cared this much. She started to cry and he couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay." He said softly, wanting to tell her that he was there, that he was her Chat Noir. However, he held himself back.

"No, i-it's n-n-not." She said through sobs. "I didn't g-get the chance to t-tell him tha-t I-'m s-s-sorry and that I l-love him." She cried into Adrien's shoulder. Adrien winced. He knew she didn't really mean it and he couldn't help feeling somewhat angry.

"I'm sure he knows." Adrien replied as he buried his anger so that he could comfort her.

"I'll n-never get to s-s-see him again." She cried as a crowd started to form. Adrien didn't care that they were taking pictures of the two of them. He still held Ladybug as she cried.

"Let's get you somewhere you can transform." Adrien said and put his arm around her to guide her to his office. "You didn't use your lucky charm so you have plenty of time." He said. Ladybug suddenly seemed to realize something. She pushed away from him.

"I have to fix this." She said and turned, "Miraculous Ladybug" she shouted as she threw her yoyo up in the air. A swarm of ladybugs fixed all of the damage done by the akuma, but Ladybug still looked perturbed. "I'll…thank you, M. Agreste." She said before she threw her yoyo. Adrien wanted to stop her, but just let her go.

He quickly walked into the building and made his way to his office. He covered for his replacement's tardiness. He went to check on Marinette's designs, but found her office empty. "She's probably late because of the akuma." He muttered as he made his way back to his office. After an hour and a half, he knew that his replacement would be going on break. He grabbed a wheel of camembert from the refrigerator in his office and made his way to the man's desk, putting the wheel next to his keyboard.


	3. Marinette

"Did you see the news, Girl?" Alya asked excitedly over the phone.

"No." Marinette said, simply. She'd had a long day at work and hadn't gotten much done.

"There's a new Chat Noir." Alya said and Marinette cringed. "And they got video footage of the fight and you will never guess who joined in!" she said.

"The new Chat Noir?" Marinette asked.

"No, Adrien!" Alya said and Marinette's breath caught. "Chat's baton got knocked away from him and Adrien grabbed it and went after the akuma. I guess all those fencing classes he had paid off." Alya said. "Hold on, I'm going to add the video to the Ladyblog." She added. Alya then went silent. "Oh, and there's more, Girl. You may want to sit down for this." She added.

"I'm not going to sit down, Alya. I still have a block to go before I get to my apartment." Marinette said.

"People got pictures and video of Adrien hugging Ladybug." She said.

"And?" Marinette asked.

"Well, he's only the love of your life. I figured that you'd probably want to know that they're close." Alya said.

"He's a decent guy, Alya. Him comforting her doesn't mean that they're close." She said. "I doubt they even know each other." Marinette said.

"Are you forgetting the Crawler incident?" Alya asked. Marinette suddenly remembered how the Crawler had targeted Adrien and she'd had to protect him. That lazy cat hadn't even shown up for that fight.

"Yeah, I guess they've had run-ins, but that doesn't mean anything." Marinette said.

"Whatever you say, Girl." Alya responded. "I've already got people commenting on the Ladyblog that they think Adrien was Chat Noir." She said. Marinette stopped for a moment.

"That's ridiculous. He wouldn't have the time to be Chat Noir. Between his duties at Agreste and lessons he barely has enough time. And he even still models sometimes." Marinette said.

"Okay, whatever you say. That hasn't stopped half of Paris from thinking that he's Chat Noir. Maybe if you see the video you'll understand." She said.

"I don't want to see the video." Marinette replied, climbing the steps to her apartment building.

"Probably not. The new Chat Noir was really cold to Ladybug. Like really." Alya said. "I don't like him at all." She added.

"I wonder where the old Chat Noir is." Marinette said absently.

"I don't know, but I hope he comes back soon." Alya said.

"I don't think he's coming back, Alya." Marinette said as she made her way into her apartment. "Well, I'll talk to you later." She said.

"Okay, see you later, Girl." Alya said.

Marinette hung up the phone. She then sat down at her computer. As much as she didn't want to watch footage of the akuma battle, she pulled up the Ladyblog. She saw the video that Alya had just added to the Ladyblog. It was a newscaster's footage. It showed Adrien tackling her, her swinging away from an attack with Adrien and then her freezing when she saw the new Chat. She watched intently as the new Chat attacked the akuma. He didn't seem trained in combat and was just trying to hit the girl and her crutch. She saw his staff get knocked away. The camera zoomed in on him for a moment as he dodged an incoming attack, rolling away from the staff. Then the camera focused on Adrien. He had picked up the staff and was treating it like a sword against the akuma.

As she watched, she did see similarities in the form that he used as compared to her Chat Noir. She lost herself in thought as she tried to recall all of their battles. She did see a resemblance in how they moved, especially with him having tackled her at the start of the fight. She then watched as the camera focused on her being comforted by Adrien.

"It appears that Ladybug may have a friend within the Agreste family. Or maybe it's something more?" the newscaster said in a suggestive tone. The footage then cut off. Marinette felt sick to her stomach with that last sentence. She knew that Ladybug and Adrien had nothing to do with one another. However, even the suggestion could make him a target of a future akuma attack.

"Why did he do that?" she asked, frustrated.

"Probably because he's a nice guy and wanted to make sure that you were okay." Tikki supplied. "I think that we need to talk more about the new Chat Noir." She said.

"What about him?" Ladybug asked.

"Master Fu wouldn't have chosen a new Chat Noir. He wouldn't have accepted the Miraculous back. Miraculous wielders are chosen by the Miraculous and that can't be changed, not even by the Great Guardian. He was lying, Marinette!" Tikki said.

"Why would he lie?" Marinette asked.

"If you don't believe me, go and ask Master Fu. He will tell you the same thing. Chat Noir wouldn't have been able to give the Miraculous back. The new Chat Noir must have stolen it!" Tikki said.

"Are you sure about that? He seemed pretty sure that he was chosen." Marinette replied.

"It was an act, Marinette!" Tikki said.

Marinette nodded. "I guess I should pay Master Fu a visit." She said before furrowing her brow.

"What is it, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"Adrien said that Chat Noir wasn't going to show up. He also knew that my Lucky Charm was what makes my transformation drop. He seems to know more than he's saying." Marinette said.

"Let's go to see Master Fu. That way you can ask him what you need to." Tikki said. Marinette nodded. She opened her purse for Tikki and then left the apartment. After a short train ride and a walk, she knocked on the door to the Grand Master's home.

"Master Fu?" she called just before the door opened to the elderly Chinese man.

"Yes, Ladybug." He said. Marinette suddenly had no idea what to say. "I assume you are here about Chat Noir." He added.

"Yes." Marinette said, nodding.

"Come in." he said. Marinette entered the house. "I thought you would be coming." He added, leading her into the next room. He had tea ready for the two of them.

"There's…a new Chat Noir." Marinette said.

"I saw. Chat Noir decided to go against what I told him." Master Fu responded.

"So, he did come here? To give you his Miraculous?" she asked.

"Yes. I did not take his Miraculous and he apparently decided to give it away." Master Fu stated.

"How could he just give it away?" she asked.

"You and Chat Noir were chosen by your Miraculouses, but you are not the only ones who can use them. Whoever is in possession of the Miraculous can wield it, but only the chosen ones are connected to their Miraculous." Master Fu said.

"So, Chat's going to get his Miraculous back?" she asked.

"I didn't say that. There is no telling what will happen now that the Miraculous is out of Chat Noir's hands. You will need to help him, Ladybug." Master Fu replied.

"I wish I could. I'm the reason he went away." She responded.

"There is never an instance where an apology would not be welcome." Master Fu said and Marinette shook her head.

"I think there is. And I think it is the situation I'm currently in." Marinette said.

"Ladybug, you and Chat Noir are meant to be together. The two of you are Yin and Yang. You are two halves of the same whole. You will find him again and you will be able to let him know your true feelings." Master Fu said.

"I don't even know what my true feelings are." Marinette replied.

"Yes, you do. You don't want to admit it, but you know what you feel." Master Fu said.

"Where do I even start looking for him?" she asked. "We never knew each other's identities."

"Think about what you want and what you need." Master Fu said. "You will be able to find him, Ladybug." Marinette nodded.

"Come on, Tikki." She said to her little kwami before turning to leave. "Thank you very much, Master Fu, for the tea and the conversation." She added before leaving.

"You are very welcome, Ladybug." Master Fu said.

"What are you going to do?" Tikki asked.

"I think I need to pay a visit to Adrien." Marinette responded. "Tikki, Spots On." Marinette said before she left Master Fu's house. As Ladybug, she swung through the city until she found Adrien's apartment building. She recalled that it was one of the taller buildings. She landed on the roof and then used her yoyo to hang down and look in through his window. She saw a very startled Adrien when she did so. She reached out and knocked on his window.

"What are you doing here, Ladybug?" he asked, opening that window.

"Mind if I come in?" Ladybug asked. Adrien nodded and stepped aside to give her room. "You know about Chat Noir, don't you?" she asked, crossing her arms and not looking at him.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.

"You told me this morning that Chat wasn't coming to the fight. You stated that he knows about my feelings for him." Ladybug said. Adrien raised his hands as he backed away from her, seeing a determined glint in her eye. "What do you know about Chat Noir?" she asked.

"I…Ladybug, I…" he started.

"What do you know about Chat Noir, Adrien?" she asked.

"I don't know anything." He said. Ladybug didn't believe him.

"You have to know something." She said. Adrien closed his eyes as he repeated what he said. "Then how did you know he wasn't coming?" she asked.

"He did come." Adrien replied.

"And you joined in the fight." She said.

"I just reacted." He said as quickly as she finished.

"You moved just like him." She said.

"I must have had similar training." He said.

"What do you know about him?" she asked, her eyes begging him to confirm what she thought.

"I don't." he responded, his eyes shifting away from her face. "Ladybug, I wish I could help you, but even if I did know where Chat was, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I would be betraying his secret identity. I would think that you, above all others, would understand why I can't do that." He said, turning his eyes to her.

"I…can you at least tell me if he's alright?" she asked.

Adrien shook his head. "I can't tell you anything." He said.

"Do you know why the new Chat lied?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.

"Nevermind. Sorry that I bothered you, Adrien." She said, turning to the window. She paused, her hand in the air ready to throw her yoyo. "You need to be careful. With the news report earlier you may become a target because of me. Keep an eye out for akumas and stay safe." She said.

"I will, Ladybug." He said as she left through his window. She had one more stop to make before she turned back. One more person that she wanted to see who might help her to make sense of all of this. She swung through the streets until she landed on the girl's balcony. Timidly, Ladybug knocked on the glass door. There was a rustle inside and a significant amount of commotion before the curtain was haphazardly pulled back.

"Ladybug?!" Alya shrieked. "What are you doing on my balcony? Do you want to come in?" she asked excitedly as she threw open the door. "Come in. Do you want pizza? I have pizza!" Alya said, turning to run to the table.

"That won't be necessary." Ladybug said as she stepped into the apartment. "I wanted to talk to you." She added.

"You want to talk to me?" Alya asked as she pulled out her phone.

"Without being recorded, please?" Ladybug asked. Alya glanced down at her phone and then back to Ladybug, gulping before slowly nodding. "What do you know about what is going on with Chat Noir?" she asked.

Alya's eyes widened. "I was going to ask you about that." She said. "Why would I know anything?" she asked.

"You run the Ladyblog. I'm sure people give you tips?" Ladybug asked, hoping for anything.

"I'm sorry, Ladybug. I don't know. No one has seen him for three or four days." She said. "Do you know why he gave up being Chat Noir?" Alya asked and Ladybug winced.

"It was me." She said.

"No, Chat loves you." Alya said. "There's no way that he stopped being Chat Noir because of you." She said.

"Yes, there is. We had…well, I hurt him very badly." She said, looking down at the ground. She then shook her head. She wasn't there to tell Alya about what happened, she was there for information. "What do you know about the new Chat Noir?" she asked.

"Nothing really. No one has any idea of who he might be or where he came from. All we know is that he says that he's going to be the new Chat Noir." She said. "Ladybug?" she asked hesitantly after a moment.

"Yes?" Ladybug asked.

Alya bit her lip briefly. "Are you and Adrien Agreste a…couple?" she asked. Ladybug let a chuckle fall out of her mouth as she shook her head.

"No, me and M. Agreste are not a couple. I barely even know him." She said.

"No, really. Not going on the Ladyblog, I promise." Alya said.

"Really, I barely know him." Ladybug stated.

"A lot of people are thinking that he is Chat Noir. Well, that he was Chat Noir…" Alya started, but Ladybug cut her off.

"No, there's no way that Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir." She said abruptly.

"So, you know who Chat Noir was?" Alya asked and Ladybug hung her head after another moment.

"No." she said simply.

"So, he could have been?" Alya pressed.

"I guess he could have been. But I don't really think that he is…was." Ladybug said.

Alya nodded. "Do you want to make a statement for the Ladyblog?" she asked. Ladybug thought for a moment. "You could make it to Chat?" Alya suggested. Ladybug's face fell as she thought. She nodded. "Okay" Alya said, excitedly as she grabbed her phone. "And…ready." Alya stated as her phone beeped to indicate that it was recording.

Ladybug cleared her throat. "Chat? I…I'm just sorry. I'm so sorry. Please come back and talk to me." She said. "I know that I don't deserve it and that you are probably still mad at me and you should be, but please." She said as her eyes welled up with tears. "I really need to talk to you. Can you meet me in our place? Even if you're just in a regular disguise since you don't have your Miraculous?" she said. She didn't want to go back to the abandoned building, but she didn't want anyone else to know where they would be meeting. "I'll wait there for the next three nights." She said and then she nodded for Alya to turn off the recording.

"I'll put it up right away, Ladybug." She said.

"Thank you." Ladybug responded. She turned and exited the room and swung through the streets again. She found it easier to lose herself while she navigated the city. She wasn't truly patrolling so much as roaming. Before long, she found herself on her balcony.

"Do you really think that was the best idea?" Tikki asked as she came out of Marinette's Miraculous. "Asking Chat Noir to meet you when he doesn't even have his Miraculous?" she clarified.

"I have to do something, Tikki." She said.

The next day, she went to work as usual. She had noticed that it seemed Adrien was avoiding her. Today, his assistant Tyler came to check on her designs. "It looks like you're almost done." The man said, looking at the drawings that Marinette had created over the course of several weeks. "Probably just a few more and then we can get these up to Gabriel." He added, smiling at her.

"Thank you, Tyler." Marinette said. Tyler was tall, tanned, and had light brown eyes and a dazzling smile.

"Keep up the good work." He said before he left her office. Marinette nodded and turned back to the design that she was currently working on. She managed to finish it by the end of the day and then she made to rush out of the office. She wasn't looking where she was going and tripped, falling to the floor with a groan.

"Are you okay?" a few voices called out. Marinette looked up and her face immediately turned red. Adrien, Tyler, Nathalie, and one of the IT guys, she was pretty sure his name was Mitch or Mike or something beginning with an M, were looking at her with worry.

"Yeah." She said as she stood quickly and brushed herself off. "I'm fine. No big deal." She said. "Well, I guess I better be off." She said quickly as she turned and quickly rushed out of the building.

She quickly made her way to a secluded alley where she transformed and swung through the city to the abandoned building. She still wasn't prepared for the state of the room. It hadn't been touched since the last time she had been there. There was still a giant hole in the floor, holes in the walls, and the mattress and blankets were still shredded. Ladybug carefully sat down in front of the window to wait.

She didn't even know what to expect as she waited. She figured that he would likely not show up. While she waited, she considered what she would do if the roles had been reversed. She realized that she wouldn't show up if it had been Chat that had broken her heart to such an extent. The sun set slowly while she waited.

Every time the wind made the building creak, she would look expectantly to the door on the other side of the room. And every time she did, she would realize that nothing was there. "Oh, kitty. Will you ever forgive me?" she asked as she waited.

She didn't know how it happened, but Ladybug had managed to fall asleep while she waited. When she woke, she quickly looked around the room, seeing that nothing had been disturbed. Sunlight, however, was pouring through the window behind her. She looked down at her wrist to see that she had transformed during the night and that she was almost late for work.

"Tikki?" she asked frantically.

"Let me guess, spots on?" Tikki asked. Marinette nodded before she said the words. There was no way that she would make it to work on time if she didn't transform. She made her way quickly through the city and then transformed in an alley near to the Agreste building. She walked in quickly to see the IT guy talking with Adrien.

"Marinette." Adrien said as she walked in. "How was your night?" he asked. He seemed like he was in a better mood than he had been all week.

"Uneventful." She said sadly. She didn't know why, but seeing Adrien made her realize how much she missed her kitty.

"You've met Marcus, right?" he asked, introducing the dark-skinned man next to him.

"Can't say I have." Marinette replied.

"Yes, we did. We had orientation on the same day." Marcus responded. "I don't blame you for not remembering. What with that akuma attack." He said.

"Yeah, that was scary." Marinette said briefly. "Well, I'd better get to work." She added.

She managed to finish one design during the entire day and then she rushed to the abandoned building right after work. That night, she stayed awake until the sun came up. However, no one disturbed her throughout the night. The next day was Saturday. Marinette normally spent Saturdays with Alya, but instead she called her friend and said that she was sick. She didn't leave the abandoned building all day and waited for night to come again. This would be the last day. If Chat didn't show up tonight, it would mean that he really wasn't going to show up.

Tikki tried to comfort her during the day and to get her to leave the room. She said that it was probably just making Marinette feel worse. Tikki was right. Marinette did feel worse because of the room. It was a constant reminder of how much she had hurt Chat. However, she wasn't going to leave it, not when she didn't absolutely have to. As the sun started to set, Tikki suggested she transform back into Ladybug.

"Why should I, Tikki?" she asked.

"He can't know that you're Ladybug, especially not now, Marinette. He doesn't have his Miraculous and that means that he would be in danger if he knew who you were. If you want him to be safe, then you need to transform." Tikki said.

"No, Tikki. I don't want to." Marinette said.

"Marinette. Don't be selfish." Tikki said.

"How is it being selfish if it's what he wants?" Marinette asked.

"Because you're not doing it for him, Marinette. You're doing it for you, to try to make him forgive you. If you want to show him, then do it, but don't do it for your own gain." Tikki responded. "Do it because you want to, not because you want him to do something for you." She said.

"You're right." Marinette said, hesitantly. "Tikki? Spots on." Marinette said. Within moments, Ladybug sat where Marinette had been. She waited in silence. As the night drew on, tears started to form in her eyes. Her kitty wasn't coming, but she didn't believe it until she heard the birds chirping to announce the new day.


	4. Adrien

Adrien wanted to go out into the city to think about the visit that Ladybug had paid him. He had wanted to tell her the truth. He almost had told her the truth. It felt wrong to lie to her and yet the lies had just kept falling out of his mouth. Part of him realized, though, that he needed to keep his identity secret still. She had always insisted that they keep their identities secret even from each other. And so he had lied to her.

But something had been off about her. She had been aggressive with him almost. She had made a point of demanding answers in such a way that was so very unlike her. Normally, she was assertive, but tonight she had been scary. That was part of the reason that he almost wanted to tell her. However, he held himself back.

Adrien was still deep in thought when he heard his phone chime to show that there was an update to the Ladyblog. He ignored it at first as he made himself dinner. After dinner, a shower, and an hour of playing his game, he looked at his phone. He moved to check the notification, but decided against it. Instead, he simply went to bed.

After a fitful night, he went to work. He wasn't feeling up to doing much and so he turned to his assistant. "Tyler, do you think you can handle checking up on the designers?" he asked. The man nodded simply before leaving the room. Adrien had a less than productive day as he was preoccupied with his thoughts. He barely even noticed when Marinette fell  
right in front of him as she rushed to leave the building at the end of the workday.

When he got home, he sat down to play his game again. When he did, he glanced at his phone briefly before setting it down on the coffee table. He stared back up at the tv screen. However, he found himself glancing at the phone again when he could. Eventually, he let out a frustrated shout before grabbing the phone. "I'm still just a stupid cat." He muttered as he unlocked the screen.

_"Just go away you stupid cat. I never want to see you again."_

He pulled up the page and found a new video. It was Ladybug herself in Alya's living room. "Chat? I…I'm just sorry. I'm so sorry. Please come back and talk to me. I know that I don't deserve it and that you are probably still mad at me and you should be, but please." She said, looking like she was about to cry again. "I really need to talk to you. Can you meet me in our place? Even if you're just in a regular disguise since you don't have your Miraculous? I'll wait there for the next three nights."

She was wanting to see him? So badly that she didn't care that he wouldn't be in his disguise? At first, he moved to get up, to go to her. Then he stopped.

_"You were wrong. I don't feel the same way."_

_"I never want to see you again."_

Tears started welling up in his eyes as he thought about the possibility of seeing her again and her knowing that it was him. Seeing her as Adrien was different. He still had feelings for her, he wasn't blind enough to deny that. However, he felt a sense of safety in knowing that she didn't know who he was when she saw him as Adrien. He wasn't Chat Noir in those times. He was able to distance himself from the pain that he'd felt.

Facing her as Chat, though? He wasn't ready. He knew he wasn't ready. He got up and paced in his apartment, going over his options. She was giving him three days to decide whether he wanted to go to see her. Whether he wanted to let her speak her piece. He didn't have to go tonight even if he did decide to go. He could just go tomorrow night. Or the next night. He bit his lip.

_"I want this."_

_"I never want to see you again."_

His fist clenched. His mind then flashed back to that room. That room that he had wanted to wipe off the face of the Earth. That room that was still standing, that she was waiting in. He growled. The only reason he would go back to that room would be to finish what he started. He felt a fiery rage building up in him as he paced and thought about that room. About how good it had felt to shred the mattress and punch through the walls. About how satisfying it was to see the wood disintegrate beneath his hand.

Before he knew what he was doing, he had left his apartment and was on the fire escape. It was the only way down from the penthouse other than the excruciatingly slow elevator. He rushed down the steps and slid down the ladder at the bottom like it was nothing. He stalked through the streets on a mission that even he was unsure of. He knew that he needed to blow off steam, but he didn't know where to go. He wished that Plagg was there to talk to. As annoying as the kwami was at times, he was still Adrien's best friend.

Adrien scowled as he walked in a seemingly aimless pattern through the city. He felt drawn to his destination as if it was calling to him. As if he had no choice in the matter and was going to go there no matter what. As if it was fate. He stood in front of the door, glaring at the wood. He could go. He could leave right then and there. He didn't have to have this conversation. He didn't need to do any of this. He balled his fist up again just before the door opened.

"I've been waiting for you, Chat Noir." Master Fu said. "You should have listened to me when you last visited." He added. Adrien pursed his lips.

"I didn't come for a lecture." He said.

"No, you came for tea." Master Fu responded and stepped aside to let Adrien into the house. "Come, sit down." He said. Adrien did as he was told, already feeling calmer than he had on the street. "Now, who did you give the Miraculous to?" he asked.

"It's…someone that I work with." Adrien replied as he took a sip of the tea that was offered to him.

"You need to get it back as soon as possible. There is no telling what this man will do with the Miraculous." Master Fu said.

"I trust him. And I don't think that I would be able to face Ladybug as Chat Noir." Adrien said.

"This is not a piece of gum, Chat Noir. This is your Miraculous. It is powerful and that power can be used for good or evil. Regardless of your feelings for Ladybug, you need to get it back and you cannot let the person you gave it to know your identity." He responded.

"How do you know that I didn't already?" Adrien asked before drinking more of his tea.

"I have a tv. I watched the news." Master Fu said unenthusiastically. Adrien nodded. "The man you chose recognized you as a civilian, not as Chat Noir." He said.

"Plagg told me to not let him know." Adrien said. Master Fu nodded.

"And he was right. No one can know that you are Chat Noir." Master Fu said. Adrien nodded. "Now, you came here for a reason." Master Fu said. Adrien hung his head briefly before nodding.

"Ladybug and I…" he trailed off. "We did something and she got upset. She said something to me that hurt. It hurt badly." He said. "I don't think I can face her." He added.

"Perhaps you should speak with her, see what she has to say." Master Fu said.

"I can't face her, though." Adrien said.

"Maybe if you face her as your civilian self you will be able to speak with her." Master Fu said.

"How would I do that without her knowing that I'm Chat Noir?" he asked.

"I suppose it's possible that she could recognize you. However, she is distressed right now. It is entirely possible that she wouldn't." Master Fu responded.

"And what if she does?" Adrien asked. "No one can know that I am Chat Noir." He added.

"Other Miraculous users can know your identity. True Miraculous users. Not like the man you chose or Hawkmoth." Master Fu replied. Adrien nodded and looked to the floor, deep in thought.

"I do need to get my Miraculous back." Adrien finally said as he finished his tea. Master Fu nodded in approval. "I'll do it tomorrow." He said.

"It might be more difficult than you think to get it back. It's difficult to relinquish power once it's been given to you." Master Fu warned.

"I'm sure that I'll get it back." He said as he stood. "Thank you, Master Fu." He said with a smile as Master Fu got up to escort him to the door.

"Good luck, Chat Noir." Master Fu said as Adrien left and the door shut behind him. Adrien nodded and started walking again. He made his way back to his apartment, passing by the building that he knew Ladybug was waiting in. Part of him wanted to go up to see her and he paused outside of the entrance to the building. He closed his eyes and turned, walking away from the building. He would talk to Ladybug again. He had decided that, but he didn't want to confront her until he had his Miraculous back. He went to his apartment and made his way to his bedroom.

He fell asleep far easier than he had since he last saw Master Fu. When he woke up, he went to work early. In his office, he wrote a quick note.

Thank you for all that you've done. Please leave the ring at the end of the day.  
-CN

He didn't know if this would scare his replacement or not, but he hoped that Plagg would explain that Master Fu wasn't actually the one to choose him. Adrien grabbed a wheel of camembert out of his refrigerator and made his way to the man's desk. He placed the note under the wheel of camembert and left quickly before anyone could see him.

As he made his way to the front of the building, he saw Marcus come into the building. "Hi Marcus, how've you been?" he asked with a smile.

"I've been good. Nothing too interesting going on." Marcus responded.

"That's good, I guess." Adrien said just before Marinette walked in. "Marinette, how was your night?" he asked.

"Uneventful." She said, grabbing the strap of her purse. He didn't even think she realized she was doing it.

"You've met Marcus, right?" he asked, motioning toward his friend.

"Can't say I have." Marinette replied.

"Yes, we did. We had orientation on the same day." Marcus responded. "I don't blame you for not remembering. What with that akuma attack." He said.

"Yeah, that was scary." Marinette said briefly. "Well, I'd better get to work." She added before rushing away. Adrien looked after her and a worried expression crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked.

"Marinette has been a bit upset recently. I'm started to worry about her. It isn't like her to be so upset." He said. Marcus looked in the direction that Adrien was staring, to Marinette's office.

"Yeah, who knows what's going on with her." Marcus said. "She probably just needs a break. It is Friday." He added. Adrien nodded. He spent the rest of the day reviewing designs. He was excited for the end of the workday. He was excited to get Plagg back. When everyone was leaving for the day, he hesitated near the front of the building until he saw his replacement leaving.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tyler asked as Adrien passed him on the way back into the building.

"Forgot something in my office." Adrien said. Tyler nodded and Adrien rushed off, making his way to his replacement's desk. He saw the empty box from the camembert and the note that he'd left were crumpled in the trashcan. His Miraculous wasn't there. Instead, there was a note. His eyes widened and he looked around the desk. He wondered if the ring had fallen off of the desk or rolled off onto the floor. He frantically searched the entire desk.

Then he saw it. On a pad of sticky notes, his replacement had written a response to Adrien's note.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll keep the ring.  
-CN

Adrien's eyes narrowed. "How could he sign as my alter ego?" he said, anger spiking briefly before he pinched his nose and thought. He knew where his replacement lived. He could just go and steal his Miraculous back. He didn't like thinking about that option, though as it was risky. However, his replacement wasn't being as cooperative as he'd hoped.  
"Why would he even want to keep it? I'm sure that Plagg is driving him up the wall. And he hasn't even been patrolling." Adrien grumbled as he left the building. He walked by his  
replacement's apartment building, briefly contemplating going up to discuss the matter with the man.

_'You cannot let the person you gave it to know your identity.'_

Adrien winced as Master Fu's words crossed his mind. This was going to be tricky and he needed time to come up with a plan. He made his way to his apartment, sad that his plan hadn't worked. He had been hoping to go and see Ladybug and talk to her about what had happened. However, he couldn't bring himself to face her until he'd fixed his mistake.  
He grabbed his phone as he laid down on his bed. He decided to text his replacement.

'Hey, you want to hang out? I have a new game.' He texted and then waited impatiently for a response.

'No, I'm pretty busy tonight.' The new Chat Noir texted back. Adrien glared at his phone.

'Maybe tomorrow night?' He tried again.

'No, I've got a lot to do this weekend.' His replacement responded. Adrien pursed his lips. He had a feeling that the new Chat was going to be going out as Chat. He worried that his replacement wasn't going to be patrolling, though. Something told him that his friend was going to be using the Miraculous inappropriately.

'What are you going to be doing? Maybe I can help?' he asked.

'No, Adrien. It's kinda something that can't be done with anyone else.' His replacement responded. Adrien sighed before putting his phone down. He briefly wondered if Plagg could help him to get the ring back. If he got close to the new Chat Noir, he might be able to have a chance to speak with his kwami.

He made his way out to his fire escape again. He decided to go out for a walk. He was hoping that he would see his replacement at some point. However, throughout his wandering, he didn't see any leather-clad cat men vaulting through the air. Instead, he found himself in front of a certain abandoned building. He knew that he could go up to the top floor and see Ladybug. He reached for the door handle, but then pulled his hand back.

He wanted to fix his mistake before facing her. He wandered around town aimlessly until the sun started to rise. At that point, he made his way to his replacement's apartment. He knocked on the man's door.

"Hello?" the man asked as he opened the door.

"Hey, got any free time?" Adrien asked, seeing Plagg peeking over the man's shoulder. His kwami looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and pleading.

"I told you, I'm busy this weekend." He said before he started to shut the door.

"You don't even have a few minutes?" Adrien asked.

"What is up with you recently, Adrien?" he asked, starting to get defensive.

"I just, have some free time and wanted to have some fun." Adrien replied. His replacement nodded.

"Well, I don't have any time to spend, so I wish I could help, but I can't." he said.

"What are you busy with?" Adrien asked.

"Just some stuff." His replacement said. "I've got to go, see you at work on Monday." He said before shutting the door in Adrien's face. Adrien scowled at the door before pressing his ear to it.

"You are so annoying. All you do is eat and complain." His replacement obviously told Plagg.

"You have to give the Miraculous back to the original Chat Noir. If you do, you'll be getting rid of me, too." Plagg responded.

"Not a chance. I don't care how many bags of Doritos you go through." The man said.

"Doritos?" Adrien mused, wondering why he had never thought to try to get Plagg to eat chips before.

"If you had anything decent to eat, I would leave them alone." Plagg responded.

"Oh, shut up." The man responded.

"I still hate you." Plagg stated.

"Just give me some peace and quiet. I need some time to sleep." He said. Adrien knew after that that he had been out all night as Chat Noir. He waited for a few minutes, knowing just how small the apartment was. It was really just a large room with a kitchenette. The only door other than the front door was the door to the tiny bathroom. Adrien waited until he heard the man snoring.

"Plagg." He said through the door. Within a moment, the small black kwami flew through the door.

"You had better have…" Plagg started as Adrien pulled a piece of camembert out of his pocket. Plagg immediately stopped talking to scarf down the cheese. "I hope you have a plan, buddy." Plagg stated after belching.

"Doritos?" Adrien asked.

"Don't even think about it, kid. What are you going to do to get me back?" Plagg asked.

"Can you get me into the room?" Adrien asked. Plagg looked down.

"I could, but he's a really light sleeper." He said. "There's no way you would get the ring off of him." Plagg stated.

"I have to try." Adrien said.

"Listen to me, kid. You need to wait until tonight at least. Catch him when he goes out." Plagg said.

"Do you know where he's going?" Adrien asked. Plagg shook his head.

"Sorry, kid. So far, he's just been roaming the city. There hasn't been any real pattern." He said. "But if you catch him when he comes in at the end of the night, you might be able to catch him off guard." He added.

"But tonight is the last night Ladybug will be waiting." Adrien said.

"Well, you'll have to find her tomorrow." Plagg said. "I'll make sure the door is unlocked for you. You just be ready." Plagg said.


	5. Chat Noir

Chat Noir had gone out again that Saturday. He didn't quite know what to expect, but he enjoyed the feeling of running along the rooftops and vaulting through the air. He had enjoyed himself so thoroughly the first night that he went out that he was nearly late for work the next day. That was the day that there was a note on his desk signed CN. He scowled at the note and crumpled it up as Plagg dove for the cheese just like he'd done the first time it was left for him.

"You know, you should give me back to him." Plagg said with a belch. "He's the real Chat Noir." The kwami said.

"You'd said I was chosen when he didn't want to be Chat Noir anymore." The man growled.

"It was easier to get you to accept your role that way. Do you really think that you would've suited up and helped Ladybug if you'd thought there was another choice? Come on!" Plagg stated. It had taken all three days for the new Chat Noir to finally transform and that first battle wasn't what he had expected. He was graceless compared to his predecessor. And on top of that, he'd needed help from Adrien Agreste. That night, he had taken the ring off and put it back into its box. Not only had he felt useless after the fight, what with Adrien doing all of the work, but he'd also come back to his desk after his break to find a box of camembert cheese.

Plagg had instantly started in on the cheese, much to the shock of the man wearing his ring. The kwami had explained that this had to have been from the original Chat Noir to not only tell him that he did a good job, but also a sign of appreciation for Plagg. The man behind the mask had scoffed, wondering aloud how anyone could find the small black kwami anything but annoying. Truthfully, finding the camembert shook the man to his core.

Someone knew that he was Chat Noir. While Plagg was insisting that it was the old Chat Noir, the new one wasn't as sure. He was worried that someone was sending him a warning. He just didn't know how to decipher it. Plagg had tried to explain that only the chosen one would know what their kwami ate because no one else would be interacting with the kwami enough to know, the new Chat became on edge. After a few more comments from Plagg, he found that the ring came off easily. He put it back in the box and left it there the next day.

That day, though, he'd had a rough time at work. His boss had tacked on some extra duties that he didn't appreciate. He'd gotten everything done, but by the end of the day he needed some kind of release. Normally, that involved going to the gym and that was what he had been about to do when the little black box caught his eye. He remembered all of the things he'd seen Chat Noir do over the years and let a small smirk spread across his face.

He took the ring out of the box and put it back on. Before Plagg could say anything, he transformed and roamed the streets. For the first time in his life, he felt truly free. He could do anything he wanted to do. Well, anything with a few exceptions. He couldn't manage to bring himself to use his cataclysm again. The power of it had been intimidating in the fight and he couldn't imagine using it again. He worried what would happen if he used it against a person. He shook the thought from his head as he landed on a rooftop only to see a pink light briefly illuminate a window across the street. It was an abandoned building. He knew that much. He knew that there shouldn't be any lights coming from it. He had been about to vault over to it when he saw someone walking along the street. It was late and this street had been abandoned. Chat paid close attention to the man below as he walked. The man paused just outside of the entrance to the building briefly before turning and walking away.

If Chat had not been transformed, he never would have been able to tell who the man was. However, with Chat's enhanced vision, he could tell that the man was his boss, Adrien Agreste. His eyes narrowed, wondering what Adrien was doing out at this time. He was going to follow him, but then remembered the pink light. He wanted to investigate first. He vaulted to the abandoned building and landed in the window frame just above a sleeping woman. What he saw was a destroyed room, the woman, and a sleeping little red kwami much like his own.

His eyes had widened as he realized that the woman sleeping just in front of him had to be Ladybug. He had seen the Ladyblog. He knew she was waiting for the original Chat Noir. At first, he turned to leave, knowing that it would be wrong of him to view her exposed identity without her knowledge. However, he couldn't bring himself to leave. Instead, he did the opposite. He made his way into the room carefully so as not to disturb her. What he saw made him confused at first and then elated. He knew who Ladybug was. He worked with her every day. He saw her trip and fall on her face just before they left work that day. He'd even called out to her to see if she was okay.

'So, that's why you were in such a hurry, Marinette.' He thought before ever so silently leaving the way he came. A smile formed on his lips as he continued his way through the city, not looking back. To be honest, when morning came and he spoke with Adrien, part of him wanted to ask the man why he'd been out so late the night before, but before he got the chance, she came in. He'd gotten nervous despite having not spoken to the girl for a very long time. However, she was Ladybug. This clumsy, artsy woman was also the hero of Paris.

He had long had a crush on the heroine. As a teenager, he'd had a poster of her up on his wall and had even contributed to the Ladyblog sometimes when he managed to catch a photo or video of the woman. However, he'd let his crush ebb as he focused on school and then on his work. He hadn't been sure if it was the friendship he'd forged with Adrien during college or his talents that got him the job at Agreste, but he wasn't going to let childish fantasies take over so much of his time that he couldn't finish his work. Now, though…now he was Chat Noir.

In his first fight with her he'd been nervous. He hadn't spent much time with his miraculous and didn't quite know what he was capable of. And then she hadn't done anything for the entire fight. He realized that she was shocked by him coming instead of the previous Chat Noir and Plagg had talked to him about how the previous Chat Noir and she had a history and that she had hurt him. Part of him had blamed her for his receipt of Plagg, but as he spent more time with the kwami, he began to simply blame Chat himself. Initially, he had been cold toward her partly because of what Plagg had told him, partially because of his frustration with having to deal with Plagg and his constant complaints, and partially because he was trying to prove that he was just as good as if not better than the original Chat Noir.

After the fight, he realized that he should have been kinder to Ladybug. However, his frustration with the situation mixed with his frustration of her and he told her that she could deal with him being Chat Noir or she could give up her Miraculous. He had regretted the sentence the instant it left his mouth. He knew that there was no way he would be able to handle akumas without her. A new Ladybug just wouldn't be the same. Just like he wasn't the same as the old Chat Noir. There was no telling what would happen if she did give up her Miraculous. Luckily, his ring started to beep to show that he was running out of time before he could shove his foot further down his throat.

Now he was starting to think that none of this was her fault. Sure, Plagg insisted that she had hurt the original Chat Noir. However, he hadn't given his new owner the full story of what happened between them. And now the man couldn't help but to place the blame of the entire situation wholly on the original Chat Noir. He roamed the city, letting his thoughts consume him until he was too tired to continue. He also knew that he would need to be up for work in the morning.

When he saw Marinette at work the next day, he couldn't help the nervous feeling that he had around her. Knowing that she was Ladybug made him pay far more attention to her than he ever had before. His initial delight at seeing her was quickly dampened when he realized that she didn't really know him all that well. In fact, she only spoke to him briefly during that day and when he went to stop by her desk at the end of the day, she was already gone.

She was gone and Adrien quickly rushed past him and back into the building. The new Chat Noir made his way to his home and transformed as soon as the sun set after an annoying texting conversation with Adrien. He had spent the night running across the rooftops. During his running, he found himself across the street from that abandoned building again. He watched the window for a while, but didn't see the pink flash again. Occasionally, he would see Ladybug stand up and look across the room as if alerted to something, but she never looked out of the window.

He wanted to vault into the room to speak with her. To apologize for the other day, but he knew she likely wouldn't take it well. As he watched her, he found himself wondering who the original Chat Noir was as well. Ladybug was waiting for him. And if Chat Noir was like he had always been, he would likely show up. However, no one did. The new Chat Noir stayed late into the night and didn't see anyone else enter the building. If he had looked down to the street, he would have seen Adrien again and may have started to draw his own conclusions, but he focused on the room that Ladybug was in until it was almost dawn. At that point, he decided that it was time to get home. He quickly traversed the city and entered his apartment through the window.

He had barely let his transformation drop when Plagg started badgering him for camembert. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't have any? I can't afford that stuff." He said, opening about his millionth bag of Doritos that week. "Though really, I'm starting to not be able to afford these either." He said as Plagg dove into the bag. The sun was barely in the sky and Chat was about to go to sleep when there was a knock on his door.

He made his way to the door. "Hello?" he asked as he opened the door to see Adrien. He had a quick exchange with Adrien that made him more suspicious as he spoke. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Adrien was Chat Noir. He was very pushy all of the sudden. They hadn't hung out since college and now he was texting and showing up uninvited? Chat knew that he should treat his boss with more respect, but he was tired and had a short fuse because of his sleepiness. He ended up shutting the door in Adrien's face before turning to see the hovering kwami. He glared at Plagg.

"Why don't you have anything but Doritos?" Plagg asked angrily.

"You are so annoying. All you do is eat and complain." Chat told the small sprite.

"You have to give the Miraculous back to the original Chat Noir. If you do, you'll be getting rid of me, too." Plagg responded. He considered it for a moment. Then he remembered how freeing it was to run along the rooftops.

"Not a chance. I don't care how many bags of Doritos you go through." He responded.

"If you had anything decent to eat, I would leave them alone." Plagg responded, crossing his tiny arms.

"Oh, shut up." He replied, frustrated as he made his way past the kwami to the bed.

"I still hate you." Plagg stated. It had been the first thing the kwami had said to him. _"Look, kid, I already hate you. But you've been chosen to hold the black cat Miraculous. You get to fight crime and have super powers." The kwami said as he looked around the small apartment. "I'm guessing you don't have any camembert."_

"Just give me some peace and quiet. I need some time to sleep." He said grumpily as he flopped down on his bed. The kwami didn't say anything else and the man soon went to sleep. When he woke, it was late afternoon. He quickly made himself some food and begrudgingly gave Plagg more Doritos. "I'm going to have to go and buy some more, you know?" he grumbled.

"Well if you would just get camembert then I would leave them alone." Plagg replied. The new Chat rolled his eyes and then watched as the sun set.

"Claws out." He said and, without another word, he leaped from the building and made his way into the city. He wasn't patrolling, really, he was just roaming. While the old Chat Noir and Ladybug would crack down on regular, non-miraculous related crime from time to time, the new Chat wasn't interested. He was only interested in sailing through the air. Well, that was until he found himself on a rooftop across the street from an abandoned building again. He sat and waited, watching the building until the sun came up and he could see a distraught Ladybug stand and turn to the window.

She saw him and he saw her face fill with fury. He didn't have time to react as she flung her yoyo and was then standing in front of him. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I saw you." He said simply, not sure what else he could say.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Not as long as you. Did you really think he was going to come?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe he would have if you hadn't been here." She replied angrily. Before he could say anything in response the two heroes heard screaming. Ladybug looked down to the street where she saw what looked like an akumatized victim. "Stay here. I don't need you getting yourself hurt." She said as she analyzed the situation.

"I won't get myself hurt. I'm Chat Noir remember." He said.

"You're practically a civilian. You are not Chat Noir." She responded angrily, her attention being drawn away from the victim who was shouting something about sinners.

"I was chosen…" he trailed off, knowing now that it wasn't actually true.

"Well, just stay up here and you'll be safe, chosen one." Ladybug said as she used her yoyo to swing closer to the victim. Chat, despite Ladybug's demand, followed her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fighting the akuma with you." He replied.

"And what is your sin?" the Preacher turned on Ladybug, holding a staff out to her.

"I don't have time to teach you how to not die." Ladybug responded before turning to the Preacher. "Right now, I'm thinking wrath." She replied.

"Right you are." Preacher said as a red light shot out of the end of his staff. Ladybug didn't have time to respond before it hit her in the chest sending her flying backward. "You are angry at Chat Noir for leaving you. You are angry at the new Chat Noir for attempting to replace the old one." He said as Chat rushed forward and attempted to strike the Preacher. "Do you know what your sin is, kitten?" he asked as he side-stepped the attack.

"I bet you're going to tell me." Chat said as he swung his staff at Preacher.

"Envy" Preacher said as a green light shot out of the end of the staff and hit Chat sending him flying backward. "You envy the old Chat Noir and what he accomplished. You envy his relationship with Ladybug and his finesse when it came to fighting. Beside him, everyone knows you're just a cheap knock-off." He said.

As Chat stood, he felt his wants even more pronounced. He was confused by the feeling as he hadn't heard what Preacher had said. Then he saw her running toward him. All he wanted in that moment was to take her away from the old Chat Noir and have her for himself. And here she was running into his arms. He let a smile start to form on his face until a fist crashed into the side of it. "How dare you try to take his place?" she screamed at him before bringing up her leg to kick him. He grabbed her ankle.

"I'm so much better than him, you'll see." Chat responded.

"Do I sense a bit of Pride?" a voice that Chat wasn't bothering to pay attention to stated as a golden light hit Chat, knocking him away from Ladybug. She turned.

"I'm not done with you." She shouted toward Chat before she rushed toward Preacher. Chat watched as she used her yoyo to try to tie the Preacher up. His eyes narrowed. There was no way that he was going to let her best him when it came to this akuma. He had taken down the first one, granted he'd had help from an unlikely source, without her help. He would be damned if he needed her help for this one.

"Out of the way." He shouted as he rushed into the fight, using the staff to jump high into the air. He made to bring the staff down on Preacher's head. Preacher dodged the attack.

"What are you doing? I'm taking care of him just fine!" Ladybug snapped. He could tell it was a struggle for her to not start attacking him again and to instead focus her efforts on the Preacher.

"No, I'm taking care of him just fine. You're just in the way." Chat said as he moved to try to strike the man again.

"Quit acting like you know what you're doing. You're practically a little boy playing dress-up. The real Chat Noir would know better than to get in my way." Ladybug fumed.

"The old Chat Noir would have been hit with lust and immediately tried to whisk you away." Chat replied.

"Can you focus on the task at hand?" she asked angrily. "Lucky Charm" she shouted suddenly, throwing her yoyo in the air. It came back down with a pillow. "Really? Couldn't I have gotten a stick of dynamite or something for once?" she shouted angrily.

"That's why you have me." Chat responded. "Cataclysm." He shouted, holding his hand in the air. Soon, it had black bubbles surrounding it. He charged toward Preacher, his hand extended as he thought only of besting Ladybug. Her eyes widened as realization hit her. She quickly swung her yoyo as Chat was almost to Preacher. She yanked him back and held the pillow in front of her. Chat stumbled and fell into her, grabbing the pillow. Soon, it disintegrated and he glared at Ladybug. "You really wasted your Lucky Charm so that you could beat me?" he asked.

"You can't use Cataclysm on an akumatized victim!" she shouted angrily.

"Well now I can't." he said.

"Just grab his staff you useless stray." Ladybug said angrily.

"Why don't you grab his staff if I'm so useless?" Chat bickered. Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and he could tell that it was taking all of her willpower not to punch him in the face.

"Just stay out of my way." She said before turning back to Preacher only to find that he had fled the area. "Seriously? Now I've got to chase him down. What good are you anyway? Just go back to wherever Chat found you." She said, not realizing that she revealed that she knew that he wasn't chosen by Master Fu.

Chat stared after her as she left to go and handle the akumatized victim. That was when his ring started beeping. He used his staff to vault through the air and traverse the city back to his apartment, glowering about what she had said. 'Fine, if you think you can do it without me then go ahead and do it.' He challenged her as he flung himself through the air and managed to dive into his open bedroom window.

He was thankful that he still had some time on his transformation as, as soon as he entered the room, he was ambushed from the side. A slight figure dressed in all black tackled him and struggled to hold him down. Chat fought with the attacker unable to see who it was due to a mask that obscured all of the man's face. It took him a moment to realize that the man was trying to get his ring. His first thought was that the man was being controlled by the Preacher. Then he realized that only one person would know where Chat Noir now lived. And that was the old Chat Noir.

"I'm not giving it back." He said as he managed to kick his attacker off of him. The man tried to lunge for him again, but Chat swiped his claws at the attacker and managed to scratch through the black shirt that he was wearing. The man yelped in pain as Chat got up and into a better defensive position. The man dove out of Chat's window and onto the fire escape. He rushed down the steps and slid down the ladder at the bottom as Chat watched, not willing to follow as his transformation was about to wear off. Just before it did, a swarm of Ladybugs visited him and he suddenly became far calmer and more level-headed. "She did it." He said as the transformation dropped.


	6. Adrien and Marinette

Adrien had rushed away from the apartment as quickly as he could, seeing the ladybugs swarming through the air. He realized in that moment that there had been an akuma attack and tried to find the source of it. He rushed through the streets, looking for Ladybug, but he couldn't find her. He assumed that she had already left the scene if there even still was one. He had taken off his mask once he was out of sight of the apartment. He made his way back to his own apartment as he realized that he wasn't going to see her.

Once inside, he peeled off the layers that he was wearing so that he could see the damage that had been done. He was surprised to see no damage. He tried to figure out why there was no damage when he realized that it was because Chat had hurt him before Ladybug set everything back to normal. He hadn't even noticed the ladybugs healing him as they swarmed past him and up to the apartment that he had come out of. Still, his fingers traced the lines where he had been slashed.

He quickly pulled up the Ladyblog when he got back to his house to find no information about the akuma attack was posted yet. However, a quick look at the news gave him the information he was looking for. The Preacher had been infecting people with the seven deadly sins. He watched the news footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir arguing when they should have been fighting. The newscaster described how Ladybug had been struck with wrath and Chat Noir had been struck with Envy and Pride.

Adrien's eyes widened as he watched Chat Noir attempt to use his cataclysm, though it wasn't clear if he'd been trying to grab the staff the akuma was using or the victim himself. However, watching him and Ladybug arguing made him contemplative. He knew that neither of them would remember what happened after they were hit with the akuma's power until the spell had been broken. That was just how the akumas worked. This meant that their main source for what happened during the fight would likely be the news and the Ladyblog. It would also mean that Chat probably wouldn't remember that Adrien attempted to steal the ring back.

Adrien realized that he was going to need a new plan for getting the ring back. He was going to need to figure out a way to convince Chat to give it back to him because there was no way he was going to be able to steal it. He started trying to draft a note to the new Chat. After writing and re-writing the note about 20 times, he finally settled on one that he felt would be decent.

_I hadn't realized how Ladybug would treat you. I hadn't realized that she would care that I was gone. I am sorry that you've been having a difficult time with working with her because I saw the most recent akuma battle on the news. I wanted you to know that I do trust you to hold my Miraculous while I can't and that I do think that you can handle being a hero until you return the Miraculous to me._

_You fought well and I'm sure, after watching the news, are horrified by the actions you took while under the influence of the akuma's power. I've had similar feelings and want you  
to know that you did do a good job. I really wish that Ladybug would have been more open to working with you instead of against you.   
You have always been selfless and kind. You always focus on making sure that everyone else is okay. You are disciplined and have a clear sense of duty and honor. These are the main reasons that I chose you to be my temporary replacement. You are a good man. However, I also chose you because I know that you can be great and that you won't abuse the power that I've given to you._

_I wish that I could tell you more about who I am and what happened. However, I still need to protect my identity and, out of respect for another, I cannot tell you why I decided that I needed to step down for a while. I realize now that not only am I not ready to take back the Miraculous, but you are also not ready to let it go. And I understand that and I need to trust you to live up to my expectations like I am sure that you will._

_Please don't take out your frustrations on Plagg or Ladybug. They are both very dear to me._

_-CN_

He read over the letter again before folding it and placing it in an envelope. He then made his way through the city and back to the new Chat's apartment after changing his clothes. He slipped the envelope under the door and left in silence. It was late afternoon when he got back to his home and went to lay on his bed. He fell asleep quickly as he had stayed up late, sneaking into Chat's apartment.

He woke a few hours later to his phone ringing. It was dark outside. As he looked at his phone, surprised to see that Marinette was calling him. "Hello?" he asked as he answered the call.

"Hey, is this Adrien?" a male voice asked on the other end. Adrien sat up quickly, surprised by the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes." He said quickly.

"Do you think that you can come and pick the owner of this phone up? She needs a ride home." He said before rattling off the name of a bar.

"Yeah. Why did you call me, though?" he asked, confused as to why his name would be the one that they would call from her phone. Surely, they would be more likely to call her parents.

There was silence for a moment before the man let out a chuckle. "Well, uh…your number was the first in her contacts list." He said awkwardly.

"Okay." Adrien responded, figuring that it was possible for him to be the first person in her contact list. He still didn't understand why they would have thought that he would be the best person to call, though. Still, he left, taking his car to drive to the bar that the man had indicated. When he got there and went into the bar, he instantly spotted Marinette sitting at the bar. He came up behind her. "Marinette?" he asked.

"Adrien. Thisn't wha i- lookshlike." She slurred, holding a finger toward him and wobbling on the stool that she was seated on.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked as he sat down on the stool next to her.

"I shndln't have annymor." She slurred. Adrien had to agree.

"Come on. Let's get you home." He said.

"I'd goto yur home." Marinette responded, too out of it to realize what she'd just said. Adrien just raised his eyebrows as the bartender approached them.

"I assume you're Adrien?" he asked.

"Yeah." Adrien responded.

"Here's her phone." He handed the device over to Adrien who in turn put it in his pocket.

"Come on." He said as he helped Marinette to stand. "Let's get you somewhere you can sleep this off." Adrien stated as he slipped an arm around her. He held her up as he walked her through the bar and out to the street to deposit her in his car. "What's going on with you, Marinette?" he asked as he got in and started the car. He had noticed her demeanor over the last week, how withdrawn she was becoming. He also knew that it wasn't like her to get drunk.

"I'm jusan idiot." Marinette said.

"How so?" he asked as he started down the street.

"Because I jus had sex fir te first time a week ago an I decidddid ta psh'im away cause of my ridiculous crush on you." She managed to get out. Adrien was so surprised that he took a moment to look at her instead of the road. He could feel a blush rising to his cheeks because of her confession. He hadn't expected shy, sweet Marinette to discuss not only her sex life, but also her feelings about him.

"Me?" he asked. He'd always thought that she had just been shy when she stuttered around him in high school especially as she grew and started to be able to speak to him in full sentences.

"Yeah. I've bin in luff with you since frshn year." She said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Duh." Marinette responded simply.

"You never told me that." He responded.

"I couldn't tell you anything. I tired to ask you out over voicemail. Buh tha din't werk out sowell. I stole yur phone and erast it." She said as a blush rose to Adrien's cheeks. "An all these yers I din't say anthing ti you cause I was fraid you'd reject me. An all tha' time he wa there an we jus got closer an closer an…" she trailed off. "And now 'e hates me." She added with a sniffle. Adrien glanced over to see that Marinette was crying as he pulled into the parking lot. He got out and helped Marinette out of the car.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you if he feels like you've been saying he does." He said.

"I ran away. I tore 'is heart out an stompt i'…" she trailed off as the made it to the steps to his apartment building. "This isn't my bilding." She slurred as he helped her to not trip on the steps.

"I don't know where you live, Marinette." He said simply. "You can sleep this off here and then go home in the morning." He added.

"Oh, right." She responded continuing forward as if nothing was wrong. Adrien walked her over to the elevator and put his key hard in the card reader. "This elvator's shiny." Marinette said, reaching out to poke the reflective surface of the interior of the elevator. It wasn't quite a mirror, but it was reflective enough to see a distorted version of the two of them.

"So, what happened with him?" Adrien asked. "...this guy." He clarified when she didn't immediately answer. He couldn't imagine anyone using Marinette in this way. While she was sweet, she was also independent. Part of him also felt protective of her. He wanted to find out what happened to help her in some way.

"I tol' you. I ran away. Havn't seen 'im since. Tried looking, but he's not coming back. I don' dserve him anway." She said as the elevator door opened and Adrien unlocked the only door on the floor. He helped her to the couch where she sat down.

"Have you tried calling him?" he suggested.

"I don' have 'is numbr." She said as Adrien took off her shoes and purse to try to make her more comfortable. He set the purse gently on the coffee table as he didn't know what all might have been inside.

"Well, have you tried going to his house to see him?" he asked. "Or maybe contacting him through Facebook or something?" he suggested.

"I woul' if I knew whre he live. I don' evn know 'is name." she said. Adrien's brow furrowed.

"I thought you said you've known him for years." He said, confused as to how she could not know the name of someone who she'd apparently spent a considerable amount of time with.

"Yeah." She said simply as Adrien got her a pillow and blanket.

"So, you've known him for years, but you don't know his name?" he asked, not even realizing how similar it was to his relationship with Ladybug.

"Yep" she responded as she laid down on the couch and pulled the pillow that he'd gotten her into a hug.

"How?" he asked, still confused.

"He wore a mask, duh." She responded to which Adrien just looked at her with confusion. "You can't expect Chat Noir to jus' be telling erryone who he 's." she said and Adrien's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"C-Chat Noir?" he asked as he felt the room spin.

"Yeah." Marinette responded.

"You slept with Chat Noir a week ago?" he asked, not even knowing how to process what she was saying. The only person that he had slept with was…

"Yeah." Marinette said again.

"W-what would you say to him if you saw him again?" he asked as he stared at her. Looking at her now, he could see the resemblance to Ladybug. He didn't know why he had never seen it before. She had the same black hair, the same blue eyes, the same short stature. He almost wondered if the masks had a certain magic to keep them hidden from everyone, even themselves.

"Tha I'm srry an he dservs better." She said as she closed her eyes and rubbed her face along the pillow.

"Do you know what he'd say?" he asked. He didn't know what to do. Seeing her again now, so soon, and knowing who she was startled him. He felt relief that she was okay and with him. And yet he still felt that his heart was being ripped out and torn to shreds like he'd done with the blankets in their abandoned building.

"He'd prolly try to cheer me up." She responded, sounding sleepy. Adrien nodded silently agreeing that that would be what he would probably do. For now, he turned to leave the room when he heard a soft sob from her. "I miss him." She said and Adrien turned to see that she was looking at him. "I miss mykiddy." She added, tears streaming down her cheeks. He felt tears of his own well up. Despite everything, he still couldn't stand to see her like this. "An he's gone bcause I'm stupid." She said as he started to walk back to her and sat down on his coffee table next to her purse. "An I'm stupider than he thoughd. I should be out thrr, but instead I'm here. Talking to you 'bout my stupid lovelife." She said. Adrien grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. He hated her talking about herself like that, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. "Tikki's gon be so pissed at me." She slurred, waving at her purse.

Adrien nodded, figuring that Tikki was Marinette's kwami. "You should get some rest, Marinette." He stated as he stood and fixed the blanket on her. He then turned off the light as he exited the room. "Good night, M'lady." He said through the dark. He knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself as he hoped to provide her with some comfort. He smiled as her response told him that she was comforted.

"G'nigh Kiddy." Had been her response as she slipped off into a deep sleep.

As Adrien laid on his own bed, he couldn't help feeling conflicted. She, Marinette, was Ladybug. She was the woman that he loved. She was the one that he didn't want to confront until he got his Miraculous back. And she was also the one who had broken his heart. He then realized something as he thought about everything.

She had said that she had ran away because of her crush on him. She had broken his heart because she was upset that he wasn't him. Just thinking about how he'd been the reason for her hesitance made him angry. He had pined after her for years and apparently she'd done the same and yet neither of them had moved on the other because they hadn't known that they were each other. Not only that, but she'd drawn away from him as Chat because she had a crush on him as Adrien.

Obviously, she had feelings for both sides of him and he knew that he had feelings for both sides of her, but overall he was frustrated by this situation. He had always imagined finding out who Ladybug was in some dramatic reveal where they stood on a rooftop and just let their transformations run out. He imagined seeing the sun setting as her transformation slipped away and falling instantly in love with the girl beneath the mask. He'd never imagined that the secret would slip out of Marinette's mouth in a drunken slur.

He groaned and buried his face in his pillows. Not only was this not how he expected to find out, but he was also hurt that she felt she couldn't tell him previously. If she hadn't been so stubborn, they would have known each other years ago and would have been able to be in a legitimate relationship. Now, here they were with her drunk and apparently self-destructing and him trying to heal from their mistakes.

Adrien didn't want to sleep, but he had nothing else that he could do with her sleeping in his living room. Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to answer it.   
"Hello?" he asked.

"Who the hell is this?" a familiar voice said over the phone. Adrien looked down to see that the phone he had answered was Marinette's, not his and that he was speaking with Alya.

"Alya, it's Adrien." He said.

"Why do you have Marinette's phone?" she asked, her voice sounding like a mixture of excitement and surprise.

"Well, uh…I got a call saying that she needed help getting home and I went and picked her up and now she's sleeping on my couch." He said quickly.

"What are you talking about?" Alya asked.

"Look, she's sleeping…on my couch. I can have her call you back in the morning." Adrien offered.

"What are you up to, Agreste?" Alya asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. I'm just being a good friend." Adrien stated in a panic.

"Okay, well, tell her I called." Alya stated.

"Will do." Adrien stated and was thankful when the call ended. He looked down at the phone and his face suddenly turned red. He figured out why the bartender had called him. Marinette had surrounded his name with hearts in her phone. He realized that the bartender had probably thought they were a couple. He set the phone down, not quite sure how to process this new development in conjunction with the rest of what he'd learned that night. One thing was for sure, he was glad that the bartender had called him rather than someone else. He didn't know if anyone else would have protected her identity.

The next morning, he rose early. He grabbed a wheel of camembert from his fridge along with a glass of water and a bottle of asprin. He knew that Marinette would likely have a hangover and that Tikki would probably be hungry. He set the items along with Marinette's phone gently on the table next to Marinette's purse while she snored softly before   
retreating to the kitchen. He quickly went to work making breakfast, figuring that he needed to act natural. He'd decided not to let her know the extent of what she'd said the night before if he could help it. Even if she did remember, he'd decided that he wasn't going to let her know that he knew the significance of what she said. He was going to act like she was just sweet, kind Marinette.

___________________________________________________________

Marinette woke up with her head pounding. She opened her eyes, not remembering anything that had happened the night before. She immediately sat up when she didn't recognize where she was and started to panic. She took a brief inventory of herself. She was still wearing all of her clothes except for her shoes. Her purse was gone! She looked around frantically before she saw it laying on the coffee table between a wheel of camembert, a glass of water, a bottle of asprin, and her phone. She quickly opened her purse to see Tikki.  
"What did you think you were doing last night?" Tikki asked angrily as she came out of the purse.

"I don't know, Tikki. I just wanted a drink and then…I don't even know what happened." She said, but Tikki wasn't listening. She had turned and was staring at the cheese that was next to Marinette's purse. "What's wrong, Tikki?" she asked.

"Since when do you eat camembert?" Tikki asked.

"I don't." Marinette said. She then heard a light knock. "Hide, Tikki." She said as the kwami dove for her purse.

"Do you like your eggs scrambled or over easy?" Adrien asked as Marinette sat upright as straight as she could.

"Uh, scrambled is fine." She said, nervously. Adrien nodded and ducked back into what Marinette assumed was his kitchen. Her mind seemed to be running a bit slowly and she only realized what was going on after a few minutes. "Adrien?" she suddenly shrieked.

"Yeah?" he asked, quickly popping back into the living room.

"What am I doing in your apartment?" she asked, panicked. "We didn't…" she trailed off, trying to remember the previous night.

"You were in no shape to take the train by yourself and I, uh, don't know where you live, so I brought you back here. You slept on the couch." He said awkwardly. He stood there for a moment in silence before speaking again. "Have the asprin." He added before disappearing back into the kitchen. Marinette put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Marinette! You need to go, now!" Tikki said from Marinette's purse. "We need to talk about last night." She added angrily. Marinette groaned again.

"Not now, Tikki." She said, shaking her head. This was a decision that she immediately regretted as her head exploded in more pain than it had been in before. She took one of the asprin capsules and downed the water. She then stood and started walking toward the kitchen.

"Marinette!" she heard Tikki say after her, but she didn't turn back for the kwami. Instead, she ducked into the kitchen.

"I, uh…." She trailed off as she smelled the cooking eggs and her stomach groaned.

"Yes, Marinette?" Adrien said without looking at her. She noticed that his face was lacking its normal smile. She realized that he hadn't smiled all morning.

"I just wanted to say thank you for letting me stay here for the night. I, uh…I don't remember anything from last night. Um, how did you find me?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

"The bartender got into your phone and called me. I guess I was the first contact." He said as if it was nothing. "By the way, Alya tried to call you. I accidentally answered thinking it was my phone. Sorry." He said. Marinette instantly started blushing knowing just what her friend would likely have thought about hearing Adrien over her phone.

"I'll, uh, I'll call her back later. Thank you, for everything." She said. "I'll just, uh…I'll head home." She said awkwardly.

"Stay for breakfast at least? You're going to need something in your stomach." He said.

"I, uh…um…okay." She said.

"I'll bring it out when it's done." Adrien said and shot her a small smile.

"Thank you." She said before ducking back out of the kitchen.


	7. Marinette

Marinette spent an awkward half an hour with Adrien as they ate the eggs and toast that he'd made. It wasn't much, but she was glad for it even if she was embarrassed beyond reason. "I am so sorry that you had to do that." She said repeatedly throughout the meal.

"It really wasn't a problem, Marinette." Adrien had replied. He'd never pried her for more information and Marinette couldn't remember what all she'd told him the previous night. She kept nervously glancing at her purse. She was not looking forward to facing Tikki when she got back to her apartment. "I can drive you to your apartment if you'd like." Adrien offered near the end of the meal.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. I can just take the train." Marinette said. To her relief, Adrien didn't push the matter. "It really wasn't like me to do that. I am so sorry." She said again after a moment.

"Marinette, I told you it was fine. We all have bad days." He said distantly. Marinette nodded as she took another bite of her toast.

"Well, I'm going to go. See you tomorrow." She said when she was finish.

"Have a safe trip home. Call if you need anything." He said.

"Yeah. Thank you again." She said as she grabbed her purse and phone and left as quickly as possible. Her trip to her apartment was uneventful until she shut her door. Tikki immediately got out of her purse.

"What did you think you were doing?!" she said angrily. "You can't do that ever again! What if an akuma had attacked? What if someone other than Adrien had come to get you? What if someone had taken you into an alley and killed you? Never mind that you told Adrien all about how you had sex with Chat Noir!" the little kwami said angrily.

Marinette's eyes nearly popped out of her head for the second time this morning. "I what?!" she nearly screamed.

"Yes, you did. Don't you know how dangerous that is? I'm pretty sure he figured out that you're Ladybug!" Tikki said.

"Adrien knows I had sex with Chat?" Marinette asked, sitting on her couch and putting her head into her hands.

"I think you're missing the point." Tikki said.

"He probably thinks I'm a slut." She responded. Tikki pursed her lips.

"I don't think he thinks any less of you, Marinette. But that's not the point. The point is that you already made him a target as Ladybug and you don't need to be making yourself a target as Marinette. If more people get word that you had sex with Chat Noir, they might view you as a target and they might come after you to get to him if he comes back. Or they might realize that you're Ladybug." Tikki said. Marinette's head popped up and the kwami's face softened, seeing the tears streaming down her chosen's face. "Marinette, I…" she started.

"You don't think he's going to come back?" Marinette asked, taking the kwami off guard.

"I'm sure that he'll come back, Marinette. But you need to be more careful about your identity." She said. "And we need to patrol tonight. So, get some rest. You're going to need it." She said.

Marinette nodded. "Thank you, Tikki." She said before her face suddenly dropped.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Tikki asked as Marinette ran to the bathroom and threw up her entire breakfast. "Oh." Tikki said, patting Marinette on the head as the girl heaved into the toilet. "That's it. Let it out." She said and stayed with Marinette until she stopped throwing up and went to lay down.

"Never again with whiskey." She groaned. Tikki laid down on the pillow next to Marinette. "Tikki?" Marinette asked after a moment.

"Yes, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"You said that you're sure that Adrien figured out that I'm Ladybug. What makes you say that?" she asked.

"It's nothing." Tikki said. The kwami knew that letting Marinette know what Adrien had said would give her more information than she was likely ready for. After all, she had responded to him as well, so part of her knew Adrien's alternate identity. However, Tikki knew she didn't remember the whole night, let alone that last little exchange between the two.

"No, I need to know if he knows that I'm Ladybug." Marinette said, worried.

"Well, who else would Chat Noir be having sex with?" Tikki asked.

"I…well he is a massive flirt. Everyone knows that. He could easily have pursued me as me for all of these years." She said.

"You're right, Marinette." Tikki said. "He probably didn't figure it out." She said, deciding it would be best to avoid the conversation altogether. "Get some rest." She added. Within moments, Marinette was snoring softly and Tikki breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have solid proof of what she knew and she didn't want to let Marinette know unless she did.

Hours later, Marinette woke up. She had a quick dinner and then swung out of the apartment as Ladybug. She made her way around on her normal patrol route. She made her way over to the Eiffel Tower and looked out over the city. She stood on one of the sturdy metal beams and found herself getting lost in thought. That was until she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

Ladybug turned and saw the new Chat Noir on another one of the metal beams. Her eyes instantly narrowed. "Ladybug, I…wanted to apologize." He said. Ladybug's eyes widened as she heard the statement. She didn't know what to think. "I saw the news coverage of our recent fight and…I'm sorry. I should have never said those things about the original Chat Noir and I shouldn't have been antagonizing you." He said. "I don't know what happened to make Chat want to leave, but I know that it wasn't because of you." He added.

"You're wrong." Ladybug said simply.

"I am frustrated by his decision as well. I never wanted this, but everyone knows that he loved you." He said, not realizing that Ladybug had tears welling up in her eyes.

"You really are wrong. He did leave because of me." She said. "Still, I know he chose you. The guardian told me that he didn't. The only other person that would have had access to his miraculous was Chat himself." She added. "I shouldn't have treated you like I did." She said after a moment. "If Chat chose you, he did so for a reason." She added.

Chat had opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it as she continued to speak. "I'm still sorry for everything." He said when she was finished.

"As am I, I should have been kinder to you. None of this is your fault. You're just trying to do your best. And Chat and I were civilians once, too. So, I'm sure that you can do this if you put your mind to it." She said.

"That means a lot, Ladybug." He replied. "Do you mind telling me what happened?" he asked.

"I hurt Chat…very badly. I did something unforgivable to him." She said, hanging her head.

"He just needs time, Ladybug. He'll be back." Chat said. "I promise." He added, looking down himself. "But you should know that he really does love you." He said.

"Not anymore." she said.

Chat gave her a pitying look before pulling a piece of paper from one of his pockets. He held it out to her. "I found this under my door last night." He said as Ladybug hesitantly took the paper from him. "Read the last line." He said, but Ladybug didn't listen, she was already reading the whole note. The tears that had been threatening to fall were now running freely down her face. "Are you okay?" he asked as she handed the note back.

"He didn't realize that I would care that he was gone. I don't blame him. I didn't give him any indication that I would. And yet he's still trying to protect me." She said, shaking her head.

"He's hurt, but he loves you." Chat said, carefully making his way over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "He just needs time because of something that someone else did. But I'm sure that you didn't have anything to do with him leaving." He said.

"Yes, I did!" she said angrily. She turned away from him and crossed her arms. "You just don't know what you're talking about." She said.

"Why do you think that?" he asked.

"Because we had sex and I left him heartbroken because of my feelings for someone else." She said angrily.

"You had sex with him even though you had feelings for someone else?" he asked.

"I…" she trailed off hanging her head. "We've fought alongside each other for years. We've gotten close to each other during that time. I tried to stop my feelings, but I couldn't. I'm in love with both him and another man that I've had a crush on since high school." She said. "I kept meaning to stop. I kept telling him that we had to stop, but I couldn't stop myself." She added. "When we…I left. I wouldn't even talk to him about it. He…destroyed the room that we had been in. I didn't even know that until the next night." She said.

"Ladybug, I…" Chat started, but he didn't know how to console her. "I know that both of you are hurting, but he just needs time." He said.

"Can you let him know that I'm sorry?" she asked quietly.

"I can write him a note, but I don't know if he will get it." He said. "I'll try, though." He said.

"Thank you. I need to get back to my patrol." She said.

"Mind if I join you? Learn the ropes?" he asked. Ladybug nodded.

"We normally patrol in the areas that akumas have shown up in often. We also look for regular criminals." She said as she threw her yoyo. She swung through the air with the new Chat following close behind. The streets were even quieter than normal.

"What do you do with regular criminals?" he asked.

"We turn them in to the police. It's generally easier for us to capture them than akumas." She responded as they made their way across the rooftops. The night continued with Ladybug giving the new Chat Noir advice about how to use his powers and how to patrol properly. In truth, she hadn't been going to be so forthcoming or be so willing to help the new partner that she had. However, he had shocked her with his apology. He'd shocked her so much that she realized just why Chat had chosen him. The letter that he'd let her read had confirmed it. Chat had chosen this man because he was the best choice. Ladybug realized that she needed to help him because there was probably going to be another akuma attack and she was probably going to need his help.

The end of the night came fairly quickly for the heroes and they ended up where they started, on the Eiffel Tower. They stared out at the city after their uneventful night. Ladybug couldn't help the curiosity that started to fill her.

"So, you know who he is?" she asked.

"I…not really. I guess I know him in my civilian life, but I don't know exactly who he is." He said. Ladybug nodded. She then sighed and readied her yoyo.

"It's late and I don't know about you, but I have work tomorrow." She said. Chat nodded and without another word she was gone, swinging through the city. She held herself together until she got back to her home and let her transformation drop. She then started crying as she laid down on her bed.

"Marinette, it's okay." Tikki said, trying to console Marinette.

"He didn't think I would be upset that he was gone, Tikki." She said. "I hurt him so much that he didn't think I would care at all." She added.

"Chat is going to tell him that you're sorry." She said.

"And what if he doesn't get the message? What if he's even more angry with me because I didn't accept his choice of a replacement?" she asked.

"I don't think he's going to hold it against you, Marinette." Tikki stated.

"I hope you're right, Tikki." She said. "I need to get some sleep before tomorrow." She added. Tikki stroked Marinette's head as the woman went to sleep. Marinette slept fitfully throughout the night and woke tired. She went through the motions of getting ready for work and made her way to Agreste. For once, she was early to work and sat down at her desk to start working on her last two designs for the portfolio. She was drawing for a few minutes when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Marinette turned to see Tyler. "Oh, hi Tyler. I'm almost done. I should be able to get these up to Gabriel by the end of today." She said.

"Good, but I was really more interested in why you're here so early." He said.

"Oh, I just couldn't sleep." She said. Tyler nodded.

"Okay, it's just that you've seemed out of sorts for the past week or so. I wanted to make sure that you're doing okay." He said. Marinette let a small smile cross her face.

"Yeah, I just have had some personal stuff going on." She said. Tyler nodded again.

"Well, don't work too hard." He said, nodding.

"I'll try not to." She responded. Tyler patted her on the back and then left her in the office alone. She quickly went back to her drawing. She wasn't interrupted again until lunch when she heard yet another individual clear their throat behind her. She expected to turn to see Tyler again, but found her jaw dropping when her eyes came into contact with vibrant green ones. "Adrien?" she asked, panicked.

"Hi, Marinette. I wanted to check up on you because of yesterday." He said.

"Oh, I…am fine." She said, her heart pounding in her throat.

"I brought you some lunch." He said, holding up a bag that Marinette hadn't seen before.

"I…that's not necessary." She said.

"Are you sure? It's some of your Great Uncle's Celestial Soup. Well, Marinette Soup." He said with a smile, remembering the time her Great Uncle had come to Paris fondly.

"Well, I guess I can't say no to a dish that's named after me." She said. "Thank you, Adrien." She added as Adrien fully entered her office and set the bag down on her desk, taking out two take-out bowls of soup.

"I really don't want you to feel awkward around me, Marinette." He said. "I know you don't usually do stuff like that. And I know that you had reasons for doing it." He said, avoiding eye contact with her. "I want you to know that I'm here for you as a friend." He added. "In case you need to talk."

"Thanks Adrien, but I really shouldn't have said anything to you. It was…unprofessional of me." She said.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that we're friends." Adrien stated with a smile. Marinette nodded.

"I'm just…so embarrassed." She said before her phone started to ring and her eyes widened. "Just like I am right now." She added.

"That's okay, take the call. It might be important. Just know that I'm here in case you need to talk." He said as he grabbed his bowl and spoon and left her office, closing the door behind him. Marinette looked after him for a moment before pulling out her phone and answering it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Marinette! When were you going to let me know that you stayed the night at Adrien's?" Alya asked. Marinette's eyes widened.

"I didn't…I mean, how did you…" she trailed off, remembering that Adrien had told her that Alya had tried to call her.

"Don't even try to deny it, girl. Your face shows it all." Alya said.

"Nothing happened, Alya!" Marinette said.

"I know, girl. Adrien said as much. But still, you didn't call me all Sunday!" she said accusingly.

"I was busy." Marinette said, her face turning red.

"Oh? You were busy, huh? Busy with Adrien?" she asked.

"No! I was just…busy." Marinette responded. "I've got to get back to work." She said. "I'll talk to you later." She added.

"Okay, but you need to call me tonight, girl. Or at least come over and see me." Alya responded.

"I will." Marinette promised. The call ended swiftly after that. Marinette turned back to her drawing before her stomach growled. She looked over at the soup that Adrien had brought her. "Might as well not waste it." She said as she dipped her spoon into the bowl. She quickly scarfed the dish down, not having realized just how hungry she was. By the end of the day, she'd stayed true to her word to Tyler. She was done with the portfolio and took it to the elder M. Agreste's office.

"Ahem, M. Agreste?" she asked timidly after knocking on the door.

"Yes, Mme. Dupain-Cheng?" Gabriel asked without looking up.

"I've finished with that portfolio for the Autumn Showcase." She said, holding the folder in front of her.

"Leave it on my desk, thank you. In the morning, the designs that you'll complete will be on your desk." He said. Marinette quickly made her way into the room and placed the folder on his desk.

"Thank you, Sir." She said before quickly exiting the room. It was time for her to go home for the day. She made her way toward the front of the building.

"Marinette?" a man said from behind her. Marinette turned around to see Marcus.

"Oh, hi." She said.

"Going home for the day?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah." She responded.

"Any plans?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to go over to my friend Alya's house." She responded simply. "Well, I gotta go." She added after a moment.

"Right, well have a good night, Marinette. See you tomorrow." He said. Marinette nodded and quickly left. She felt strange about the exchange, but didn't think too much about it. She had decided to actually go to see Alya to avoid the brunette coming up with any more theories.

A short train ride and walk later and Marinette was knocking on the door to Alya's apartment. "Girl, you finally came over!" she said. "It's been, like, forever." She added as Marinette entered the apartment.

"It hasn't been that long." She said, noticing the smirk that Alya had spread across her face. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh it's…nothing." Alya said, her smirk widening as her hand came up to rest on her cheek. Marinette's attention immediately went to her best friend's hand. Her eyes widened as she saw the new ring on Alya's ring finger.

"Nino?" she asked and Alya nodded vigorously. "When?" she asked.

"Saturday. I tried to call you, but…well, you know." She said. "I didn't even get a chance to update the Ladyblog with info about the most recent akuma attack." She said. Alya then smirked. "I was hoping that you'd help me with it." She added.

"Help you with what?" Marinette asked, confused.

Alya rolled her eyes. "I want you to be my Maid of Honor, silly." She said and Marinette's eyes widened.

"Of course!" she said, nodding. "Have the two of you set a date or anything?" she asked.

"Not yet." Alya responded. "But you're still going with me to look at dresses this weekend." She added.

"Consider it done." Marinette responded. The two then talked more about Alya's plans for the wedding. However, soon Marinette realized that she needed to get going if she was going to patrol. "Well, I really should get home. I'll see you on Saturday." She said with a wide smile.

"Okay, Girl." Alya responded. When Marinette left the apartment, she ducked into a nearby alley and transformed. She quickly made her way to the Eiffel Tower, hoping that the new Chat Noir would show up and tell her that he got her message to the original Chat.

"Ladybug?" she heard his voice behind her. She turned, her eyes hopeful.

"Were you able to do it?" she asked.

"I left him the note and he left this in return." He said, pulling an envelope out of his pocket. It was still sealed and had "Ladybug" written across the front of it. Her eyes widened as she accepted the envelope from Chat. This was the first thing that Chat had said to her since that night, at least to her knowledge it was. Her hands shook as she made to open it. "You don't have to open it here if you don't want to." He said. "I just…well, I wanted to give it to you to make sure that you knew that he still loved you." He said.

"Why does it matter to you?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"I can see that you've been hurting. Even though I don't know you well, I still don't want to see you like this." He said. "I'll patrol tonight. I think I can handle it. You just go home and read this." He said.

"I can't…" she trailed off.

"I can do this, Ladybug. Trust me." He said, amber eyes holding the gaze of her blue ones. Ladybug nodded.

"Thank you." She said before turning. "If you need anything, your baton can be used as a phone. I'll keep my transformation up, so call me if you get into any trouble." She said. He nodded and then she was off. When she got to her apartment, she sat down at her table and stared at the envelope that was in front of her on the table. She bit her lip as she tried to determine if she should open it or not. Finally, she picked it up and carefully ran her gloved finger under the edge of the envelope, taking a deep breath before pulling out the paper from within.

_Ladybug,_

_I am sorry that I caused you so much pain. I was selfish and it wasn't fair of me to abandon you. I didn't think about how you would feel when I gave my Miraculous away. I just couldn't imagine seeing you again after what happened. At least not this soon. I know that you didn't mean to hurt me either, but I still did get hurt and I still need to heal just like you. So, for now I think it would be best if the man I chose would remain as Chat Noir. He's going to do great, I'm sure. We just need to support him._

_I know that you're sorry and I'm sorry that you're in pain. Please understand that I didn't want to hurt you. I know that you're probably wondering why I didn't go to see you in our room. The truth is that I just don't know if I would be able to see you and have you know it was me yet. I know that we need to talk and I wish that it was that simple, but it's not. Or at least, it wasn't. I set up an email address today so that we can talk some more. You can set up a new one, too, to make sure that our identities remain a secret._

_I still am very sorry. I should have known that you didn't really want to. I just didn't think. Please forgive me._

_Love,_

_CN_

Under the signature, Chat had written his email address so that Ladybug would be able to email him as he'd suggested.


	8. Chat Noir

Chat took a quick inventory of himself after the swarm of ladybugs passed through. He was still transformed, but soon he heard his ring beep and the transformation fell. Plagg came out of the ring as Chat saw some blood on the floor. He quickly checked himself for injuries and found none.

"You're not going to find it. They ladybugs would have healed any injuries you would have had." Plagg said. Chat nodded before he realized what his detransformation meant.

"I used the Cataclysm…" he trailed off, rushing for his television remote. He quickly turned on the news, hoping for coverage of what happened.

"Give me some cheese." Plagg said after a moment, but Chat wasn't listening. He was watching the news in horror.

"Why don't I remember any of this?" He asked.

"The akuma used its power on you. It happens." Plagg responded. "Now, where's my cheese?" He asked, but Chat still wasn't listening. He was just shaking his head.

"I can't. I can't." He stated as he yanked the ring from his finger. "Chat Noir wants his ring back, so I'll leave it at my desk on Monday. I can't do this. I could have killed that man. What was I thinking." He asked as he shoved the ring back in it's box and pushed it away from him. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, fingernails digging into his scalp.

He sat like that, sick with himself for longer than he knew. He was grateful that the little cat creature disappeared after the ring was gone from his finger. It gave him time to think about what he'd done. He went over not only the hurtful things he'd said to Ladybug, but also the fight itself.

"What made me think that I could pull this off? I'm not cut out for this." He said, shaking his head. He finally looked up at the TV screen. The news had moved on from the battle, though. Chat quickly turned it off.

He felt his stomach churning and rushed into his tiny bathroom, emptying his stomach. He kept thinking about what would have happened if he had made contact with the akumatized victim. Would the victim have died? Would he have disintegrated like the crutch had? Or would something else have happened to him.

"I'm giving the ring back on Monday. And that'll be that. Chat wants it back and I don't want it. I can't do it." He said to himself as he dragged himself to his bed. He was exhausted from the night's events. He fell into a fitful sleep where images of what he thought would happened if he used Cataclysm against a person ran through his mind.

When he woke, he contemplated getting something to eat, but decided against it as his stomach churned. He cleaned up the blood that was on his floor and threw away the towel that he used. He briefly looked at the box, deciding against putting the ring back on. He picked the box up from his table and put it on his counter. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this. I'll return you to Chat Noir, I promise." He said to the box, not sure if Plagg could hear him or not.

He then turned and leaned back on his counter and took a few deep breaths before seeing a slip of paper in front of his door. _'What now?'_ he thought as he made his way over to the paper. He picked it up and opened it, seeing a scrawled letter from the original Chat Noir. He read through it, reading all of the good things that the old Chat thought about him.

"Why would he have thought these things? I almost Cataclysmed a man!" He said angrily. He then looked over the letter again, seeing where Chat had specifically mentioned the fight today and how the old Chat inexplicably knew how he was feeling. His heart plummeted when he saw that the old Chat wrote that he wasn't actually ready to take back the Miraculous and that he would trust him to use it properly.

Chat put the letter down next to the box and crossed one arm over his chest, putting his opposite hand up to his mouth. He paced in front of his counter. He went over the letter in his mind again.

"He doesn't want it back. I can't give it back to him if he doesn't want it." He said, his eyes wide and his stomach churning again. "I can't use it, but he's trusting me to use it to help Ladybug. I can't believe he would trust me after seeing the news." He added.

He spent the next hour pacing and talking to himself about the situation, trying to come to a solution that wouldn't involve him putting the ring back on. "I could just give it back anyway." He said. He then groaned. "I can't give it back. I don't even know who he is. The best I could do would be to leave it on my desk." He groaned, deciding to shower to help him clear his mind.

This was not successful, but he did come to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to give the ring back to Chat if Chat wasn't willing to take it back yet. Still, he was determined not to put it back on if he could help it. He stared at the box from across the room as he sat on the edge of his bed as if it was a poisonous snake.

After a while, he shook his head. "This is ridiculous." He said, laying down, deciding to get more sleep. He laid down, but didn't get a good night of sleep. The next morning, he went out for a walk, putting the box with the ring and the letter from Chat in his pockets. He was thankful for the cool morning air as he made his way through the streets.

He decided to draft a letter to Chat explaining that he had to give the man his Miraculous back. He wanted to explain why he wasn't a good candidate for holding the Miraculous and to explain his frustration at the man for putting this responsibility on him. However, when he got home and tried to write the letter, he kept looking back at the letter he'd received from Chat. Everything that he would write just wouldn't seem right when he read over the letter he'd received.

The letter made him proud that one of the heroes of Paris held him in such high esteem. However, it still didn't change what he'd done. He felt that Chat Noir couldn't possibly be still wanting him to hold his Miraculous even though he had the evidence right in front of him while he wrote. He kept crumpling the papers he had written on and throwing them away.

He wrote and wrote, but nothing sounded quite right. He then let out a frustrated shout and went out for another walk. He couldn't think straight. He made his way out again with the ring in one pocket and the paper in the other. He made his way through the city to the Eiffel Tower. He looked up at the tower as it lit up for the evening. He started up in wonder, clearing his mind until he saw her standing on one of the beams.

His stomach clenched thinking about what he'd said to her during the fight. He had no idea if she remembered it or not as she had also been hit with the akuma's power. As much as he wanted to walk away, he didn't know if he would get another chance to tell her that he was sorry. He made his way to a close alley and transformed. He then scaled the tower and hauled himself up to a beam near hers. He watched her for a moment, waiting for her to turn to him. When she didn't, he cleared his throat.

She turned and he saw her body instantly tense as her eyes narrowed. She was angry at him. He just knew that she'd seen the footage of the fight with how she was glaring at him. "Ladybug, I…wanted to apologize." He said, watching Ladybug's eyes widen in surprise and seeing her shoulders drop, the tension leaving them. "I saw the news coverage of our recent fight and…I'm sorry. I should have never said those things about the original Chat Noir and I shouldn't have been antagonizing you." He went on, hanging his head. "I don't know what happened to make Chat want to leave, but I know that it wasn't because of you." He added, briefly looking up at her.

"You're wrong." Ladybug said simply. Her eyes were closed as if she was thinking over what he was saying.

"I am frustrated by his decision as well. I never wanted this, but everyone knows that he loved you." He said, looking away from her again.

"You really are wrong. He did leave because of me." She said, her voice cracking slightly. Had it not been for his enhanced hearing he might not have heard. "Still, I know he chose you. The guardian told me that he didn't. The only other person that would have had access to his miraculous was Chat himself." She added, Chat saw her standing up straighter in his peripheral vision as she tried to regain her composure. He opened his mouth to argue, but couldn't get a word in before she started to speak again softly. "I shouldn't have treated you like I did." She said after a moment. "If Chat chose you, he did so for a reason." She added more for her own benefit it seemed.

"I'm still sorry for everything." He said when she was finished.

"As am I, I should have been kinder to you. None of this is your fault. You're just trying to do your best. And Chat and I were civilians once, too. So, I'm sure that you can do this if you put your mind to it." She said, he noticed her face drop as he glanced at her.

"That means a lot, Ladybug." He replied. "Do you mind telling me what happened?" he asked, finally fully looking at her.

"I hurt Chat…very badly. I did something unforgivable to him." She said, hanging her head. He could see the tension in her rising again as the muscles in her shoulders twitched.

"He just needs time, Ladybug. He'll be back." Chat said, trying to comfort her the best he could. "I promise." He added, looking down himself. "But you should know that he really does love you." He said.

"Not anymore." she said, tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Chat gave her a pitying look before pulling the letter from the original Chat from one of his pockets. He hadn't meant to offer it to her, but it was the only thing he could think to do. He held it out to her timidly. "I found this under my door last night." He said as Ladybug hesitantly took the paper from him. "Read the last line." He added, but could tell Ladybug didn't listen as her eyes flicked quickly across the words. The tears that had been threatening to fall were now running freely down her face as her shoulders slumped and her face fell even further. "Are you okay?" he asked as she handed the note back.

"He didn't realize that I would care that he was gone. I don't blame him. I didn't give him any indication that I would. And yet he's still trying to protect me." She said, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest again while he could see her trying to stop the flow of tears.

"He's hurt, but he loves you." Chat said, carefully making his way over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "He just needs time because of something that someone else did. But I'm sure that you didn't have anything to do with him leaving." He said, leaning his head down to try to make eye contact with her.

"Yes, I did!" she said angrily. She turned away from him and crossed her arms again. "You just don't know what you're talking about." She snapped, her back suddenly rigid.

"Why do you think that?" he asked, his hand still hovering where her shoulder had been a moment ago. He could see her fingers clench around her arms even from behind and could only imagine the look on her face as she let out a small frustrated breath.

"Because we had sex and I left him heartbroken because of my feelings for someone else." She snapped angrily, turning her head so that he could just see the left side of her face.

"You had sex with him even though you had feelings for someone else?" he asked, surprised, taking a step backwards. He didn't know what else to say and found himself gawking at her. What she was describing didn't seem like a very Ladybug-like thing to do.

"I…" she trailed off hanging her head again as her shoulders slumped and she looked as if she was deflating. "We've fought alongside each other for years. We've gotten close to each other during that time. I tried to stop my feelings, but I couldn't. I'm in love with both him and another man that I've had a crush on since high school." She said with a sniffle as she was still, clearly crying. "I kept meaning to stop. I kept telling him that we had to stop, but I couldn't stop myself." She added, bowing her head further. "When we…" her voice cracked "...I left. I wouldn't even talk to him about it. He…destroyed the room that we had been in. I didn't even know that until the next night." She said, wiping under one of her eyes absent-mindedly. Chat just started at her back, jaw hanging open as he listened to what she had to say.

"Ladybug, I…" Chat started, but he didn't know how to console her. "I know that both of you are hurting, but he just needs time." He said taking a small step back toward her.

"Can you let him know that I'm sorry?" she asked quietly hanging her head, still not turning to look at him.

"I can write him a note, but I don't know if he will get it." He said. "I'll try, though." He said with a nod.

"Thank you. I need to get back to my patrol." She said. She even agreed to let him come with her. That evening, she showed him the ropes for being a hero of Paris. That night made him feel more comfortable about the idea of being Chat Noir, but he was still set on giving the ring back the next day. He couldn't trust himself to not hurt anyone. When he got back to his apartment after the patrol, he detransformed. Plagg glared at him and crossed his little arms. He didn't even say anything as Chat opened his refrigerator and pulled out a wheel of camembert.

"Where did you get this piece of heaven?" Plagg asked just before stuffing his mouth.

"It's been in there since I got you. I didn't want you to know about it, though." Chat said, letting the Kwami eat as he sat down to write again.

_Ladybug asked for me to tell you that she is sorry. She said that what she did was unforgivable. Still, I do think that you should forgive her. Not that she deserves it, but you do. You deserve to not hang yourself up on the past. I'll admit that before tonight, I blamed you for all of this. However, now I understand why you needed time._

_I, however, cannot trust myself with this power. Thank you, truly, for thinking that I could handle being a hero. But I keep seeing myself on the news running at that man. I know you think I can handle this, but Paris needs the real Chat Noir, not an insecure little boy who can't control his emotions for even one fight. Take the ring back, please._

_-CN_

"I'm going to try to give you back tomorrow." He said as Plagg finished the rest of the wheel. "So, I guess this will be goodbye." He said. Play just rolled his eyes.

"Please, don't act like you can stand me just because I'm leaving." He said. Chat took the ring off again, but to his amazement, Plagg remained.

"I thought you could only be here if I had the ring on." He said. Plagg just shook his head.

"Only if you mean it. I guess you really are starting to like me." The kwami said smugly. Chat's eyes widened and then he looked down.

"I still need to give you back." Chat responded. "I can't just let myself take so many risks. I could have killed that guy." he added.

"It's not like A...the other Chat Noir hasn't taken risks." Plagg said.

"That's no excuse." He said. Chat narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Chat almost Cataclysmed Ladybug." Plagg responded simply.

"What?" Chat asked, surprised. He hadn't heard about that aspect of Chat being placed under Dark Cupid's spell.

"Remember Dark Cupid, from the first Valentine's Day that Hawkmoth was terrorizing Paris?" Plagg asked. Chat nodded. "Chat almost used his Cataclysm on Ladybug during that fight." He said. "The media didn't get footage of that fight, though, so he never saw that. He also didn't see Ladybug kissing him for the first time." Plagg said with a laugh.

"How do you know, then?" Chat asked.

"I see everything that happens when someone is Chat Noir. Just like Tikki sees everything that happens when someone is Ladybug." He responded.

"Is that Ladybug's kwami?" Chat asked. Plagg nodded.

"Yeah, you saw her the other night." Plagg said casually.

"Oh, you saw that…" Chat said, scratching the back of his head. He felt ashamed of himself for his actions that night. He felt guilty for looking at her while she slept. It just felt wrong now that he knew who she was. It also made working with her far more awkward. Who would've guessed that shy, quiet Marinette was Ladybug?

"Yeah, I saw it. And you need to forget it. Even Chat Noir doesn't know who she is." Plagg responded, crossing his arms.

"I won't tell anyone, but I really can't forget it." He said. "But I really am going to give you back tomorrow." He added. "It's the right thing to do." He said. "But I need to get some sleep for work tomorrow." He said.

The next day, he left the letter and box on his desk when he left for his break. When he returned, his note was gone, but the box and another note were left in its place.

_I know that you're worried about what could have happened. I've worried about that a lot throughout my time as Chat. But you can't let that determine how you handle yourself. I'm going to set up an email address so that we can speak easier I'll leave it for you later. I'll also be leaving a letter for Ladybug. Please don't read it._

_-CN_

And he stayed true to that promise. The letter and email address were laying on the desk when Chat came back from lunch. Chat put the ring back on at the end of the day and put the letter to Ladybug in his pocket. That night, he went to see her and gave her the letter. He then had his first patrol on his own. It was relatively uneventful other than some petty crime that he stopped. There were, however, no akumas or anything out of the ordinary.


	9. Adrien

Adrien waited 10 minutes after Marinette left before he raced out of the apartment, to his car, and drove to Nino's. He had to let off some steam about what was going on. During the drive, he tried to come up with a way to tell Nino about the situation without revealing himself or Marinette. When he arrived, he rushed up the stairs to the apartment and knocked quickly.

"Hey, dude." Nino said when he opened the door. "What's wrong?" He asked as he saw how distressed his friend looked.

"I…" Adrien's mind went blank. He didn't know how he would be able to tell Nino anything. "I just…"

"Is it about Marinette sleeping over last night?" Nino asked and Adrien's eyes were suddenly the size of saucers. Nino started to laugh as he moved so that Adrien could enter the apartment.

"How did you...nothing happened!" Adrien said quickly as he rushed into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"Alya told me." Nino said with a shrug.

"Well I...found something out about Marinette. Something big." Adrien tried to skirt around the issue, but he didn't know how he could say anything.

"Yeah, we know." Nino said with a smirk.

"You know?" Adrien asked with wide eyes. Marinette had let Nino and Alya know that she was Ladybug, but wouldn't let him, her partner, know? He suddenly felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart and his face showed this.

"Well, she told Alya. Alya wasn't supposed to tell me, but I thought you already knew about Marinette's crush on you. She hasn't exactly been subtle about it, Dude." Nino responded with a chuckle as he put his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall.

Adrien realized that he could use this to his advantage. "But she didn't tell me for all these years! She just told me last night because she was drunk. And I don't think she remembered in the morning. How, exactly do I…you know…deal with this?" he asked.

"Well, that depends. What do you want to do?" Nino asked.

"I don't know. I mean, she's nice and I really enjoy spending time with her, but I'm...I was kind of in a relationship for a while and...it's complicated." Adrien sighed in frustration.

"Whoa whoa whoa. How long is a while?" Nino asked.

A blush rose to Adrien's cheeks. "A few years?" He said.

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this? Do you know how many times I tried to set you up with Marinette? You could have told me you were taken, bro. Not cool." Nino said, crossing his arms.

"It wasn't...we weren't public about our relationship." He said.

"Was it Chloe?" Nino asked.

"What? No!" Adrien shrieked.

"Sabrina?"

"No! She wasn't in our class. At least I didn't think she was." Adrien responded.

"Don't tell me you dated Juleka." Nino said suddenly after thinking for a moment.

"I just said that I didn't think she was in our class." Adrien responded.

"Juleka was really quiet. You might have forgotten about her." Nino defended.

"That's not the point. The point is I'm going through some things right now because of that relationship and it's really...complicated." the blond responded.

"So, uncomplicate it, Dude. Do you want Marinette or this other girl?" Nino asked.

"Both? I just...this girl and I had a falling out recently and I'm not sure what I should do." Adrien said.

Nino thought for a moment. "I know what you should do." He said. Adrien's head perked up as he looked expectantly at his friend. "You should get your mind off of it." He said. Adrien was about to ask how when Nino smiled widely and continued. "...by being my best man.". Adrien's jaw dropped open.

"You finally did it?" He asked. Nino nodded.

"And Alya tried to call Marinette right away, but well...you know." He said with a chuckle.

For some reason, Adrien didn't connect the dots to realize that Alya was asking Marinette to be her Maid of Honor. Instead he and Nino started to talk about what the proposal was like and when the wedding would be. Nino said that they hadn't picked a specific date, but were hoping to marry sometime in Autumn. Nino stated that they didn't want a long, drawn out engagement.

After talking about the impending wedding, Adrien stayed to play videogames and catch up. He felt like it had been forever since he was able to spend time with Nino between his duties at Agreste and his duties as Chat Noir. They played for hours before Nino turned to him.

"So, seriously, tell me about this mystery girl." He said. He'd clearly been curious since Adrien had mentioned her.

"I really don't want to talk about it." He said.

"Well, do I know her?" He asked.

"Yeah...you probably do. But I really can't talk about it." He said.

"Come on, Dude. Just give me even one hint." Nino whined.

"I can't." He replied.

"Is it one of your model friends? Or someone that Marinette wouldn't have a chance against?" Nino asked.

"No, Marinette would definitely have a chance." Adrien muttered. Nino raised an eyebrow and Adrien shook his head. "But the point is that right now isn't a good time. I need time to heal and work on myself. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if I didn't take that time." He said.

"What happened?" Nino asked. Adrien felt a blush rising to his cheeks before he realized that this is exactly what he wanted and why he came to Nino. He wanted a way to explain what was going on and to get his thoughts out.

"This girl and I...we've been on again off again for years and she's insisted that she loves another guy. Every time she did, I backed off and gave her room even though it hurt. And every time she would come onto me again. Well, recently one thing led to another and...well...we had sex. She regretted it right after and told me that she never wanted to see me again before she left. I just...I haven't been able to handle it." He said. "I've been trying to respect her space, but I've seen her since and she's in a downward spiral. I want to help her, but I have to help myself first so that I don't just hurt her more." He said.

"Wow. It sounds like you really love this girl. I guess Marinette really wouldn't have a chance." Nino responded.

"No, she really would. As much as I would want to go back to a relationship with this woman, things can never be the same. And Marinette, well I've always loved Marinette in a way. I was just so preoccupied with this woman that I never acted on those feelings. And now, it wouldn't be fair to her because it would be like I'm rebounding." He said, scrambling to figure out a way to explain without revealing Marinette's alter-ego.

"I see." Nino said. He chuckled to himself after a moment and Adrien looked at him curiously. "Oh it's nothing." Nino said.

"No, what?" Adrien pushed.

"Well, with that video from last week, it suddenly made me think about how your mystery woman might be Ladybug." Nino said, chuckling more. Adrien's back tensed and his eyes widened as he looked at his friend.

"Why would you think that?" Adrien asked. He was trying to look calm, but inside he was panicking.

"Oh my God. Dude! How could you not tell me about this?" Nino asked.

"Tell you about what?" Adrien asked, shifting nervously.

"You and Ladybug! You are cray cray if you think you can lie to me about this." Nino said excitedly with a huge smile on his face. "No wonder you never gave any lady the time of day!" He said.

"I wasn't dating Ladybug." Adrien said quickly, but the damage was done. Nino knew him better than anyone else.

"Wait, do you know who she is? Is that why you can't say?" Nino asked, ignoring what Adrien said.

"No, I don't and it wasn't Ladybug." Adrien insisted.

"You had sex with her and you don't even know who she is? Wait, who did she want more than…" Nino suddenly stopped, the smile dropping from his face. "Are you why Chat Noir went away? Did he find out about the two of you and get hurt?" Nino asked.

"I...I'm…" Adrien trailed off.

"Don't worry, Dude. I know that you're not Chat Noir. But seriously, the story lines up. You were seeing a girl who was in love with someone else for years and had sex with her. She has been on a downward spiral since. And Chat Noir, the other guy that she loves, disappeared." Nino said. Adrien was shocked by how close the story was to the truth. He suddenly realized that he should have been far more careful with what he shared. "And you've been infatuated with her since you first saw her. And don't think I forgot about the Crawler incident." Nino suddenly gasped. "Is that why Chat didn't show up to help that time? Because he was jealous of you and Ladybug? Has there been this whole love triangle thing going on this whole time?"

"It wasn't...nothing happened with Ladybug." Adrien insisted.

"Oh really? The only time I've ever seen Ladybug be the slightest bit nervous or unsure about anything has been when she's been around you." Nino responded.

"That's not true." Adrien said, thinking back to all of the times that Ladybug saw him without his mask. He blushed as he realized that Nino was right. She did always get flustered around him.

"So, seriously, you didn't tell me that you and Ladybug had a thing?" Nino asked. Adrien winced. What he had with Ladybug was definitely more than a 'thing'.

"I'm not saying that I have ever had a relationship with Ladybug, but even if I did have one, I wouldn't be able to tell anyone. It would just put both of us in jeopardy. I would be a target for akumas trying to hurt her and if she was in love with me, she might be reckless if I was in danger." he said.

"So, you were in a relationship with her." Nino said with a smirk.

"I just said that I wasn't saying that I did." Adrien said. "Let's just...drop it."

"Okay, but I don't believe you, Dude." Nino responded. Adrien glared at him briefly before turning back to the game. "You thought out that comment way too much for this to just be the first time it came to you." Nino added as he, too, turned back to the game. The two continued playing for most of the day until Alya came into the apartment.

Alya's eyes quickly made their way to Adrien. "Can I have a word with you? Alone?" She asked. Adrien looked nervously at Nino, unable to read Alya's tone.

"I can't save you, dude." Nino said as he stood and left the room. Alya walked over and sat on a chair beside the couch that Adrien was sitting on as the blond gulped nervously. 

"Why hasn't Marinette called me back yet?" She asked.

"I don't...why would I know?" He asked.

"Don't think I've forgotten that she spent the night at your house last night, Agreste." She said, her eyes like daggers stabbing into his soul.

"S-she went home this morning. I haven't heard from her since. I swear I didn't do anything." He said, seemingly unable to break away from her stare.

"Okay, I believe you." Alya said with a smile. Before Adrien could sigh in relief she spoke again. "If you break her heart, though, you'll regret it." She added.

"I didn't do anything with her, Alya. I just gave her a couch to sleep on." He said.

"Make sure it stays that way unless you want a serious relationship, understood mister?" She asked. The smile remained on her face, but the intensity of her glare hadn't decreased.

"You know you're terrifying, right?" He asked receiving a chuckle from the brunette.

"That's the point." She said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to spend some time alone with my future husband." She added. Adrien nodded.

"See ya, Nino." He shouted as he rushed out of the apartment, not waiting for his friend to reappear. The rest of his night was uneventful.

In the morning he went to work with the intention of staying away from Marinette. However, then he went to see if Chat replied to his message. He realized how inefficient and dangerous his current method of communication was. If he wasn't careful, his identity would be found out. That was why, as he made his way down to his replacement's desk he decided that he would set up an anonymous email address for him and Chat to communicate through.

When he got to the desk, he was surprised to see the note accompanied by the box with his ring. Plagg flew out from behind the computer. "Adrien!" The kwami said as he saw the blonde. "What's taken you so long? He's finally willing to give me back and you waited all day." He said.

"It's only been to his first break. And I can't take you back yet, Plagg." Adrien said.

"But last time you said…"

"I know what I said and I'm sorry. I just...I was trying to rush because I was worried about what he would be capable of with my powers. But I do need more time…especially after last night." He said, mumbling the last comment.

"It's been a week. How much more time do you need?" Plagg asked as Adrien started to write his reply.

"Plagg, just trust me. I'll get you back when I'm ready." Adrien said.

Plagg grumbled for a minute. He was then quiet for the briefest of moments before speaking again. "Hey Adrien?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Adrien asked without looking up from his note.

"Are you okay? After that fight Saturday morning?" He asked. Adrien nodded.

"When Ladybug set everything right again it healed me." He said simply.

"Oh...okay." he said. Adrien could tell that Plagg had more to say.

"What is it?" Adrien asked as he finished writing.

"I just wanted to…well…it's nothing…" Plagg trailed off. Adrien didn't have time to press the matter.

"I'll see you later, okay?" He said to the kwami as he started to retreat. Plagg just nodded and hid again. Adrien didn't even think about what it meant that Plagg was there without the ring being worn by anyone. He just went straight back to his office and set up a new email for him to use to contact both Chat and Ladybug.

He stomach twisted as he thought about what the note had said. Ladybug was so distraught that she confided in Chat. She confided in a man that she barely knows. And she went out and got drunk. He pursed his lips as he set about writing a letter to her. He wanted to comfort her and let her know that he would be there for her when he was able. As he kept writing, tears started to form in the corner of his eyes.

As much as he wanted to blame her for what happened, he couldn't. He was solely to blame. He was the one who had kissed her. He was the one who had taken them into that room. He was the one who hadn't stopped even though everything was telling him that she would regret it. He'd asked her so many times if it was okay because deep down he knew that it wasn't. And yet he still continued because of his own wants. He wanted to be with her so much that he disregarded her true feelings when the opportunity arose. He felt disgusted with himself as he finished the letter.

He wrote his new email address at the bottom of the page and then enclosed the letter in a sealed envelope, trying to shake his memories of that night away again. It was worse now that he knew who she was. It hurt now that he knew why Marinette was so upset. If there was one person that he wanted to see happy other than Ladybug it was Marinette. He had always loved both Marinette and Ladybug, but he'd focused his attention on Ladybug because he felt that his attraction to her was deeper due to the amount of time they spent together and how well they knew each other.

He wanted to stay away from her. He really did. However, he also didn't want her to feel like she was alone. That was why he found himself sending Tyler out for some of Marinette's Great Uncle's soup. Tyler returned shortly before Adrien went on lunch. Before he did, he dropped off the letter and a short note for Chat. He then took the bag of takeout to Marinette's office. He cleared his throat while he stood in the doorway. Marinette turned. As she saw him, her eyes filled with panic. It was a familiar sight to him, but this time something was different. It took him a moment to realize that the difference was that she wasn't blushing. "Adrien?" she asked, in a shaky voice, her eyes still wide.

"Hi, Marinette. I wanted to check up on you because of yesterday." He said with a small smile, trying to put her at ease.

"Oh, I…am fine." She said, hesitantly. Adrien stood awkwardly in her doorway for a moment before he spoke.

"I brought you some lunch." He said, holding up the bag that he was carrying.

"I…that's not necessary." She replied, looking away from him and biting her lip.

"Are you sure? It's some of your Great Uncle's Celestial Soup. Well, Marinette Soup." He said with a smile, remembering the time her Great Uncle had come to Paris fondly.

"Well, I guess I can't say no to a dish that's named after me." She said. "Thank you, Adrien." She added as Adrien fully entered her office and set the bag down on her desk. He took the bowls of soup out of the bag and set them on her desk.

"I really don't want you to feel awkward around me, Marinette." He said, without looking up at her. "I know you don't usually do stuff like that. And I know that you had reasons for doing it." He said, avoiding eye contact with her as he removed the lids from the bowls. "I want you to know that I'm here for you as a friend." He added. "In case you need to talk." He was overly aware of how close he was to her. He felt partly happy to be in her presence, but mostly heartbroken because she didn't even know who he really was. And yet, he knew that he wouldn't even be able to do this if she did.

"Thanks Adrien, but I really shouldn't have said anything to you. It was…unprofessional of me." She said. Adrien wondered how much she remembered saying and how much Tikki had told her. From how she was acting, Tikki hadn't told Marinette about their final exchange at the end of the night. He was grateful to the kwami for that.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that we're friends." Adrien stated with a smile. It broke his heart even more to call her a friend. She was so much more than that to him. Marinette nodded. He found himself opening his mouth to say more. To say things that he shouldn't say. He was grateful that she was looking away when she spoke, making him remain silent.

"I'm just…so embarrassed." She said before her phone started to ring and her eyes widened. "Just like I am right now." She added.

"That's okay, take the call. It might be important. Just know that I'm here in case you need to talk." He said as he grabbed his bowl and spoon and left her office, closing the door behind him. He leaned back against the door briefly and let out a shaky breath. He realized just how horrible of an idea this had been. He had almost told her his secret. If she hadn't spoken, she would know that he was Chat Noir. That he knew she was Ladybug. That he was the one who broke her heart.

He made his way to his office and sat, staring at his soup for the rest of his lunch. The rest of the day, he dove into his work, trying not to think about his partner. He rushed home when he was done with work and focused on playing video games. He didn't do anything else. He was engrossed in the game that he was playing. He didn't even stop to eat anything. That was, until his phone chimed late that night. He paused the game and picked up the phone. He didn't open it, just quickly glanced at the notifications. He had an email. His finger hovered over the notification and his eyes widened. He swallowed hard as he realized what was happening.

The email was to his new email address. To Chat Noir's email address from what he could only assume was Ladybug based on the email address that the sender used. He quickly put his phone down on the coffee table and stood, walking away and grabbing his hair. He hadn't thought through what he would do when this moment came.

How would he be able to reply? He couldn't even bring himself to open the email and see what all she'd written. What if she said that she wanted to see him? What if she revealed herself in the email? What if she told him that she never wanted to see him again? What if she said she loved him?

It wouldn't be the first time she'd said it since he'd given his miraculous away. However, if she did it would be the first time she'd said it directly to him. He felt his stomach churning in a way that only she could cause as he paced in his living room.

"Why did I give her the email? What could I have been thinking? It's different when she doesn't know it's me talking to her. I just sent her that one letter and I could barely even write that. What am I gonna do?" He asked aloud wishing Plagg was there to talk some sense into him. "What would he say?" He asked, suddenly thinking about his kwami. "You're an idiot. Get me camembert." He said in his best Plagg expression. "That doesn't help." He said.

He continued pacing and brought his hand to his mouth. He chewed on the back of one of his fingers as he turned back to the coffee table. He walked back with purpose and reached for the phone, teeth marks still showing along the side of his finger as he reached. He hesitated with his hand just above the phone.

"You're just going to read it. You don't have to reply." He said, trying to calm himself down as he grabbed the phone and unlocked it. He navigated slowly to his email and then opened the message, looking away from the phone as if it was going to bite him.

_Chat?_

That was it. Just one word. He stared at that word for a moment before hitting the button to respond. He bit his lip. What was he going to say? What could he say?

_Yes, Ladybug?_

His finger hovered over the send button for a moment while he thought about how stupid his response was. Still, he pushed send. He then waited anxiously for a response.

_I miss you. I'm so sorry about what I did to you. Don't blame yourself._

Adrien pursed his lips. Here she was trying to take the blame for his mess up. It was just like her. She always was trying to be a hero. In and out of costume that was one thing that never changed. Marinette always wanted to help people. Normally it endeared him to her, but in this instance it frustrated him.

_I do blame myself, Ladybug. I am the one who instigated it in the first place. I'm sorry._

He pushed send quickly. He then waited for a response. He waited and waited. He was starting to wonder if she was even going to reply at all. Then it came.

_No, don't be sorry about that. Don't be sorry that we had sex. I wanted it just as much as you did. I just got scared._

_I am so sorry. I shouldn't have ran away. I should have stayed and talked to you. The truth is that it wasn't fair to you, what I did. You shouldn't blame yourself. You asked me multiple times if that was what I wanted. You gave me many opportunities to back out. But I wasn't going to because I wanted you, too._

_Then I felt terrible because not only did I feel like I was betraying the man I like in my civilian life, but also I felt like I was betraying you. I betrayed you by having feelings for another man while I had sex with you. I betrayed him by having sex with you while having feelings for him. But I didn't just have sex with you to have sex. I have feelings for you, too. But it's not enough. I can't completely love either of you like you deserve._

_I shouldn't have hurt you and I'm sorry for that. I wish that I could go back in time and force myself to stay and talk to you. To explain how I was feeling. If I could, maybe you would still be by my side._

_Don't blame yourself, Chat. You did nothing wrong._

Adrien stared at the message and re-read it multiple times. "She...she didn't say that she would go back and stop us. Her only regret is...leaving?" He asked aloud. It was contrary to everything he thought he knew about their time together. He shakily managed to type a response.

_I'll always be by your side, M'lady. You just might not recognize me without the mask._

He couldn't think of anything else to send. Still, he hesitated. He wondered if she would be able to figure out who he was from that statement alone. While he'd wanted to know her identity throughout their time together, he didn't want her to know his now. He realized that her not knowing gave him the ability to be free around her without the mask just like the mask had allowed him to be free initially. Still, he eventually pushed send even with his reservations.

_Chat, can you meet me? At the Eiffel Tower?_

Her email caught him by surprise. He knew that she had wanted to speak with him when she'd sent her message over the Ladyblog, but he didn't think that she really wanted to see him.

_I don't think that's such a good idea, M'lady._

He replied instantly. He did realize as he spoke with her that it was getting easier.

_Please? I just want to make sure that your alright._

She responded just as quickly.

_You'd see who I am._

He countered. He knew that throughout their time as Chat Noir and Ladybug that she had always wanted to keep their identities secret. He was sure that the comment would dissuade her.

_You can wear a regular disguise._

She responded. Adrien narrowed his eyes.

_I just don't think it's a good idea. The Eiffel Tower is a very public place. People would notice Ladybug hanging out with a random guy._

He responded.

_I won't go as Ladybug then._

She said. Adrien but his lip. She was as stubborn as ever.

_Then I might figure out who you are._

He replied simply.

_I don't care anymore. I just want to see you and make sure that you're okay._

His eyes widened at what he was reading. "S-she doesn't care? She doesn't care if we are revealed to each other?" He asked himself aloud.

_So, you want for us to reveal ourselves? Now?_

He sent. He had to make sure of what she wanted. He waited as she took longer to answer his question. "I knew it." He muttered, knowing that now she was conflicted. Then again, he didn't know what he would do if she said yes. Part of him still wanted her to know. The rest of him thought it would be a big step at this point. And yet another part of him wondered how she would react to finding out that he'd lied to her when she asked him if he was Chat Noir. His phone then alerted him to a new email.

_Yes_

His stomach twisted as he read that one little word. He had expected a long email about how she didn't want to reveal themselves and why. He never thought that she would agree to it.

_You won't believe me._

He responded in a futile attempt to distract her.

_Yes, I will._

"This is childish." He said.

_No, you won't. Not if we meet in a public place because it's not like you could come out and ask me if I'm Chat Noir and I wouldn't be asking you if you're Ladybug._

He responded, hoping she would give up, but knowing that she wouldn't.

_Fine, meet me in our place._

"Of course she would figure out a solution." He said. Adrien glared at the screen trying to figure out what to write. It was obvious that she wasn't going to stop if he didn't either go along with it or reply with a blunt 'no'. He bit his lip as he thought about what to write.

_I really am fine._

He finally responded. He didn't want to see her yet, but he still didn't want to tell her that definitively.

_Please, Chat?_

He closed his eyes in a wince as he read the reply. He sighed as he thought about what might happen.

_Okay, but I'm wearing a disguise. You should, too. After all, you've already said that we shouldn't know each other's identities._

He responded. Saying that made him feel like a hypocrite. After all, he knew who she was.

_Okay, I'll meet you there in an hour?_

He nodded, knowing that she couldn't see him.

_I'll be there._

He then put his head in his hands for a moment, letting out a frustrated shout. "Stubborn" he muttered before getting up. He went to his room and put on a heavy hoodie. He also grabbed a mask that he'd used a few years ago at one of Agreste's masquerades. He hoped that Marinette wouldn't recognize it. He shoved the mask in his pocket and left the apartment immediately. He walked to the abandoned building, not wanting to drive his car in case she saw it. He'd put his hood up before he hit the street. He then ducked into an alley before the building and put the mask on.

He then reached the building and took a deep breath with his hand on the door's handle. He stood there for a moment, working himself up to entering the building. Finally, he opened the door. "Ladybug?" He called out. He didn't hear a response as he climbed the stairs. He hesitated outside the door to their room. This was his first time back in the room since that night. He took a deep breath and opened the door. It was exactly how he'd left it.

Adrien settled himself in the corner by the door and waited for her. The way he was sitting, he could see both the door and the window. He checked his watch. There was still 5 minutes left for her to get to the room before the time that she had set. He was determined to leave on time even if she was late getting there. She wasn't. She arrived just in time, bursting through the door after having run up the stairs at full speed.

"Chat?" She called before she even saw the full room. Her eyes landed on him quickly as he moved to stand. "Chat, thank you for coming." She said. She was wearing a pair of large sunglasses and a poncho.

"What are we doing here, Ladybug?" He asked.

"I w-wanted to see y-you. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did and I love you." She said, moving toward him. Adrien held up a hand to signal her to stay away. He had winced and partially turned away when she said she loved him.

"I know that you don't really mean that. I know that you are just saying what you th…" he had his eyes closed while he talked, not wanting to see her reaction. This was why he didn't notice her moving toward him until she cut off what he was saying with a kiss. She was so forceful in her kiss that she pushed him back against the wall. His eyes shot open and he raised his hands in surprise.

She stopped kissing after a moment when he didn't kiss her back. "I'm not just saying what you want me to say." She said. He was unable to see her eyes because of her glasses. He wished that he could see her beautiful eyes.

"Ma...Ladybug. I can't...I just…" he couldn't form the words. He wanted to just kiss her again. To bury his anger and pain.

"I know, I hurt you. But can you please forgive me?" She asked, her voice cracking. Now he was grateful for those glasses. He didn't think he would be able to handle seeing her cry.

"Ladybug. I can't." He said hesitantly, acutely aware of how close she still was to him. 'This was a terrible idea.' he thought, wishing that he'd just told her no.

"Please, Chat. I was upset that night and...I didn't mean it. I do love you. I just didn't know how to feel." She said. "It was my first time and I was overwhelmed." She added, shifting to aim her face toward the ground.

"You said that you can't love me, not fully because of another man." He said. "In your email." He clarified.

"Adrien won't ever think of me as more than a friend." Marinette said.

"So I'm...convenient?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

"That's not what I said." She responded hastily.

"If Adrien made a move on you, what would you do?" He asked.

"I'd tell him that I'm in a relationship." She responded immediately.

"You've pined over him for years. You left me that night because of him." Adrien said, getting angrier with every word. "And now you're telling me that you'd just drop your feelings for him without even a thought?" He asked venomously.

"I...I'm choosing you." She said, her voice cracking.

"You don't even know who I am." He said bitterly.

"I want to." She responded.

"No, you want me to forgive you. You're just saying what you think I want to hear." He responded bitterly. "For years, you've told me that we shouldn't know each other's identities. You even said that the last night we were here. You don't want for us to remove our masks. You never have." He said, dropping his hands to his sides.

"I'm not just telling you what you want to hear." She said clenching her fists as she took a step away from him. She bristled with frustration. He could see how upset she was at what he was saying. He almost thought that she would lash out at him, but it wasn't like her to do that.

"Yes, you are, Ladybug. We've been doing this for, what, 8 years now? You've never once wanted to see who I am or let me know who you are." He said, crossing his arms as if he was challenging her. That was when he saw her snap. Her jaw clenched and her clenching fists shook before they shot up.

"No, I'm not." She said angrily as she grabbed the edge of her glasses. However, she made no move to prove him wrong.

"I don't blame you for that, Ladybug. It is empowering to be able to escape from yourself. Right now, I'm not wanting you to know who I am. I'm happy to just be Chat to you tonight. I just need time before I can come back. Okay?" He asked. Ladybug started to take her hand away from the glasses.

"I want you to know who I am. I didn't realize that I wanted it before, but I do now." She said defiantly crossing her arms. "And I want to know who you are, too." She said in a softer voice. Her arms dropped to her sides.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Adrien said, quietly.

"How could it not be a good idea? You're my partner. My friend. The person who has always been by my side." she said, looking at Adrien hopefully.

"You'd be angry at me if I took off this mask." He said with a chuckle.

"Nothing could make me angry at you." she replied as if daring him to remove the mask.

"I seriously doubt that." He said.

She stared at him. She looked over his clothes, build, and what she could see of his face. She approached him again and he let her. She reached a hand up to remove his hood and he grabbed her wrist gently to stop her.

"You don't want to do that." He said, worried for how she would feel when she realized who he was. He knew that she would be upset with herself and probably with him as well. Then he saw a determined look cover what he could see of her face. It was a look that she often got as Ladybug. He let her push her hand forward and pull his hood down, allowing his golden hair to be seen. Her hand shook as she reached for his mask. "Last chance to stop." He said, hoping to dissuade her. She paused for just a moment before her fingers reached the edge of his mask. Adrien closed his eyes tightly as he felt her fingers on his cheeks.

His breathing became ragged as she started to move the mask. That was when he panicked. He put his hands over the mask to hold it in place and quickly maneuvered away from her into the middle of the room, straying close to the edge of the hole he'd made.

"Chat?" She asked suddenly, her voice a mixture of surprise and hurt.

"I told you, I don't want you to know. Not right now." He said, his back to her and his hands still holding the mask firmly to his face.

"O-okay." She said quietly. He turned to see her with her head bowed and her shoulders slumped. He cringed at seeing her like that. He took a few strides back to her.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll be okay. I chose someone that I trust to be Chat." He said.

She nodded in response. "I know. He apologized to me last night for something that he said during the last akuma battle that we had together. I don't even know what he said. I haven't watched the news or anything about it and we were both hit with the akuma's power. After the start of the fight, all I remember is it being over, me going home and sleeping, and then…" she trailed off and he heard a sniffle and knew that she was fighting back tears.

"Whatever happened, it's okay." He said, massaging her shoulder with his thumb gently. He moved so that he was behind her and started to massage her shoulders. "I know that this hasn't been easy for you. Just promise me that you'll let me have some time, okay?" He asked. He saw her nod. "Take care, Ladybug." He said before he stepped away from her, put his hood back up, and left the room the way he'd entered. It took all of his willpower to continue making his way down the stairs when he heard her start to cry.


	10. Marinette

Ladybug felt tears stinging her eyes as she finished reading the letter from Chat. "He blames himself?" She cried aloud, feeling guilty for how much he must hurt. For some reason, it had felt better before she knew that he thought he was the cause of her reaction. She grabbed for her computer and quickly set up a new email address as he'd suggested. She then opened a new draft and stopped. She didn't know what to send to him. She fingers shook as she managed to just type his name and hit submit. She then waited for what felt like forever for a two word response. They went back and forth. She couldn't help herself. Despite what he said in the emails and what he had said in the letter and him not coming to see her before, she was desperate to see him, to fix the situation.

She managed to get him to agree to meet her. She grabbed what she needed for her disguise and swung out of the apartment quickly. She waited on the roof across the street from the abandoned building nervously. She had told him that they would meet in an hour to give him time to come, but she wished that she had given him less time. Or at least she wished that she didn't have to wait. She waited anxiously, watching the street diligently as the minutes ticked by. Then she saw a figure dressed in a dark hoodie and jeans approach the building.

The person was obviously apprehensive as they made their way into the building. Ladybug swung down to the street and ducked into an alley to drop her transformation. She held up her hands as Tikki came out of her earrings, but the kwami didn't need any assistance. "What am I doing, Tikki?" She asked, suddenly scared. "He didn't want to see me." She added, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks again.

"You're just going to talk to him, Marinette. You're just going to tell him what you need to." Tikki said. "I'll be with you the whole time. Just remember that he said he needed time, though." She added, knowing how headstrong her holder could be.

Marinette nodded as she put her glasses on along with an over-sized poncho. "I look ridiculous." She said without even needing to look in a mirror.

"I doubt that Chat Noir will care how you look." Tikki responded.

"What if he does?" She asked.

"Quit stalling, Marinette. You need to either do this or leave." Tikki said, knowing that Marinette probably didn't have much time. Marinette nodded and opened her purse for the kwami. Once Tikki was hidden, Marinette made her way to the building. She hesitated at the entrance, but then pulled the door open determinedly before running up the stairs at top speed.

"Chat?" She called out, her eyes wide as her first glimpses showed her a mostly empty room. She then saw him as he moved to stand. "Chat, thank you for coming." she said, butterflies starting to form in her stomach as he stood. She couldn't help the nervousness that she was feeling.

"What are we doing here, Ladybug?" He asked, his voice was dull. It was jarring for her to hear it without it's usual cheerful pitch even though she had known not to expect it.

"I w-wanted to see y-you. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did and I love you." She said, moving toward him cautiously. Her voice betrayed her surprise and nervousness all at once. Chat held up his hand to signal her to stay away as he winced and looked away from her. It hurt her to see him act like that.

"I know that you don't really mean that. I know that you are just saying what you th…" he started. She couldn't help herself. She rushed forward and stretched up onto the tips of her toes, kissing him forcefully. She was trying to convey that she really did love him. She felt him tense and raise his hands while she kissed him with her eyes closed.

She stopped kissing after a moment when he didn't kiss her back. "I'm not just saying what you want me to say." She said breathlessly. He was staring down at her. She could see love in his bright green eyes, but she could also still see the hurt that she knew she caused.

"Ma...Ladybug. I can't...I just…" he managed to say with obvious effort.

"I know, I hurt you. But can you please forgive me?" She asked, her voice cracking as she felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She wished that he would just pull her into an embrace and kiss her like he had that night, the night that she broke his heart. She wished that she could undo what she'd done that night.

"Ladybug. I can't." He said hesitantly.

"Please, Chat. I was upset that night and...I didn't mean it. I do love you. I just didn't know how to feel." She said. "It was my first time and I was overwhelmed." She added, shifting to aim her face toward the ground. She knew that it was no excuse for her actions, but she felt like she had to try to make him understand why she had been so cruel.

"You said that you can't love me, not fully because of another man." He said. "In your email." He clarified. It was a challenge. She could feel it.

"Adrien won't ever think of me as more than a friend." Marinette said impulsively. She realized immediately that it was the wrong thing to say when she saw how his eyes narrowed.

"So I'm...convenient?" He asked.

"That's not what I said." She responded hastily.

"If Adrien made a move on you, what would you do?" He asked angrily.

"I'd tell him that I'm in a relationship." She responded immediately. She could see in his expression that he didn't believe her. She didn't know just how much trust he'd lost in her or how much it would hurt her to find that out.

"You've pined over him for years. You left me that night because of him." Chat said, getting obviously angrier with every word. "And now you're telling me that you'd just drop your feelings for him without even a thought?" He asked venomously.

"I...I'm choosing you." She said, her voice cracking. Tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

"You don't even know who I am." He said bitterly.

"I want to." She responded immediately. Again she could see the distrust in his eyes.

"No, you want me to forgive you. You're just saying what you think I want to hear." He responded bitterly. "For years, you've told me that we shouldn't know each other's identities. You even said that the last night we were here. You don't want for us to remove our masks. You never have." He said, dropping his hands to his sides.

"I'm not just telling you what you want to hear." She said clenching her fists as she took a step away from him. She bristled with frustration. She didn't know how she could make him trust her. She had never once lost his trust completely. Now, she realized just how important that trust had been.

"Yes, you are, Ladybug. We've been doing this for, what, 8 years now? You've never once wanted to see who I am or let me know who you are." He said, crossing his arms as if he was challenging her. That was when she decided to take drastic measures. She reached up and angrily grabbed the frames of the sunglasses she was wearing, ready to yank them from her face and reveal her own identity to prove it to him.

"No, I'm not." She said angrily as she grabbed the edge of her glasses. However, she made no move to prove him wrong. She didn't know why she paused, but he took advantage of her hesitation.

"I don't blame you for that, Ladybug. It is empowering to be able to escape from yourself. Right now, I'm not wanting you to know who I am. I'm happy to just be Chat to you tonight. I just need time before I can come back. Okay?" He asked. Ladybug started to take her hand away from the glasses. Her jaw open slightly as he perfectly summed up why she had never wanted them to reveal themselves before.

"I want you to know who I am. I didn't realize that I wanted it before, but I do now." She said defiantly crossing her arms. "And I want to know who you are, too." She said in a softer voice. Her arms dropped to her sides.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Chat said quietly.

"How could it not be a good idea? You're my partner. My friend. The person who has always been by my side." she said, looking at him hopefully.

"You'd be angry at me if I took off this mask." He said with a chuckle.

"Nothing could make me angry at you." she replied, sure of what she was saying.

"I seriously doubt that." He said.

She stared at him. She looked over his clothes, build, and what she could see of his face. She approached him again and he let her. She reached a hand up to remove his hood and he grabbed her wrist gently to stop her.

"You don't want to do that." He said. That only made her more determined. She pushed the hood down and was surprised when he didn't try to stop her. Her hand shook as she reached for his mask. "Last chance to stop." He said, apprehensively. Marinette paused for just a moment, nervously. He was right, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know who he was just yet. Still, her determination returned and she reached for his mask again. Her fingers brushed the edge of his mask as she prepared to take it off of him. Chat closed his eyes tightly as her fingers trailed along the edge of his mask.

His breathing became ragged as she started to move the mask. He suddenly put his hands over the mask to hold it in place and quickly broke away from her, rushing to the middle of the room. Marinette stared at him in shock. It felt as if his absence was a slap to her face.

"Chat?" She asked in surprise.

"I told you, I don't want you to know. Not right now." He said, his back to her. She just stared at him, doing everything that she could to keep from crying. She slumped her shoulders and hung her head in defeat. She was starting to realize that he wasn't going to be able to trust her.

"O-okay." She said quietly. Chat turned toward her, but she didn't look up at him. He then came back to her and she stood still, not reacting in case he rushed away again.  
He put his hand on her shoulder and she felt her breath catch. "You'll be okay. I chose someone that I trust to be Chat." He said.

She nodded in response. "I know. He apologized to me last night for something that he said during the last akuma battle that we had together. I don't even know what he said. I haven't watched the news or anything about it and we were both hit with the akuma's power. After the start of the fight, all I remember is it being over, me going home and sleeping, and then…" she trailed off, thinking about how she went out, got drunk, and would up in Adrien's apartment. She sniffled as she fought back tears.

"Whatever happened, it's okay." He said, massaging her shoulder with his thumb gently before moving behind her and starting to massage both of her shoulders. "I know that this hasn't been easy for you. Just promise me that you'll let me have some time, okay?" He asked. Marinette nodded, tears already starting to spill from her eyes. "Take care, Ladybug." Chat said and just like that he was gone. Marinette cried out once the door shut, unable to stay quiet any longer. She knew that he could probably hear her still and that just made her feel worse.

"I'm such an idiot, Tikki." She wept.

"It's okay, Marinette. Everything will be okay." The kwami said as she came out of Marinette's purse. "You don't have to fix everything right now. Chat Noir just needs some time." Tikki added. Marinette nodded.

The next two months moved sluggishly for the superhero. She planned the wedding with Alya, finished sewing the designs that Gabriel had chosen, started working on her designs for the winter showcase, and battled akumas with the new Chat Noir who seemed to get better with every fight. Meanwhile, she avoided Adrien even though that proved difficult as he was not only her boss, but also Nino's best man.

Late at night when she didn't have to patrol, she would pull up the email that she'd set up for communicating with Chat and would write an email detailing her feelings and her wants. However, she hadn't sent any of them. They were just sitting there in the drafts folder. He needed some space and, while it was killing her, she was giving it to him. She'd still send him brief messages to check up on him, but she wrote much more than she sent.

She had gotten into a routine of juggling what all she had to do and was looking forward to when Alya and Nino's wedding would be over so that she could have some time to herself. And yet, she was also dreading the event itself because she just knew that Alya and Nino were going to do something. She could feel it. She knew that both of them knew about her crush on Adrien and both of them had tried many times over the years to set the two of them up, but nothing had ever come of it. Marinette almost wondered if their wedding would be the same.

When the day arrived, Marinette did her best to help Alya. Alya, who was far calmer and more confident than her Maid of Honor, and Marinette found themselves in the bridal room of the church that Alya and Nino had chosen to get married in. "Are you sure you don't need anything? More lipstick? Chocolate? To go pee?" Marinette asked, nervously.

"Calm down, girl. Isn't it supposed to be me who's the nervous wreck?" Alya asked while sitting comfortably, already dressed and ready. The wedding was going to be in half an hour. The pre-wedding bridal pictures were already taken and they were just waiting for Nino's pictures to get done and for the ceremony to start. Alya's sisters were also bridesmaids, but had left to meet the guests.

"I just want to make sure that it's a perfect day for you." Marinette said. Suddenly her eyes widened. "What if the guest book wasn't left out on the table?" She screeched.

"Chillax, girl. You put it out yourself, remember?" Alya asked with a laugh. Marinette slumped over.

"Oh, that's right." She said.

"Just relax." Alya said. Marinette nodded, looking into the mirror in the room. Alya had insisted on Marinette designing the bridesmaids dresses. They were floor-length, sleek, and violet. The dress was strapless and had embroidery around the edges. The skirt had one ruffle that swept from the right hip to the left foot. Other than that, the dresses that Marinette had designed were simple. Marinette had wanted them to be pink and with straps, but Alya had insisted on the purple hue.

"Are we sure that these dresses shouldn't have had straps?" Marinette asked, feeling exposed.

"I told you, they look better without." Alya responded.

"Okay." Marinette said, slumping again. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Marinette answered the door to see Alya's mother.

"We're starting." She said, looking into the room and beaming at her daughter. Marinette nodded, her stomach suddenly twisting as Alya stood.

The two walked out to the hallway in silence. Alya smirked at her friend as they approached the rest of the bridal party. Marinette gulped as her eyes fell on Adrien. 'Why does he have to look so good in a tux?' she thought to herself.

"Ready?" He asked, holding out his arm for her to take. They were to walk down the aisle first in the procession. Marinette shot one quick, panicked glance at Alya who shooed her along before taking Adrien's arm. Marinette could feel the butterflies in her stomach, but she also felt a growing guilt. She'd stayed away from Adrien as much as possible as she didn't want to have this exact feeling. It only reminded her of how much she had hurt Chat. Still, she walked down the aisle, determined to not ruin Alya's wedding with her drama.

The walk was agonizing, but then she separated from Adrien to stand on Alya's side of the altar. She watched with a smile as Alya came down the aisle with her father and stood by Nino. The ceremony, however, was far too quick for Marinette and soon she was gripping Adrien's arm again as they walked back down the aisle behind their now married friends.

However, Marinette was relieved as they left the church because to her that meant that the night was relatively over. They had the reception to go to, but she didn't have to be around Adrien too much anymore. Marinette started to pull away from Adrien once they were outside. "Where are you going, Marinette?" He asked and Marinette felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

"I, uh, was going to the station to…" she started.

"Did you forget that I'm giving you a ride to the reception again?" Adrien asked bluntly.

"I...no...yes?" Marinette said. Really she had kept hoping that he would forget. However, she'd had no luck. Adrien escorted her to his car and even opened the door for her. Soon they were heading toward the reception.

"That's a very pretty dress." Adrien said awkwardly a few minutes into their silent drive.

"I...uh, thanks." Marinette said.

"I would've tried to see it earlier, but Nino said that Alya was insisting that I didn't." He said.

"Why?" Marinette asked, wondering what their friends were up to. The bridesmaids dresses hadn't been a secret for anyone else.

"They said something about bad luck." He said with a chuckle.

"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be for the bride and groom, not the maid of honor and best man." Marinette said with a giggle.

"Still, it is...stunning." Adrien stated. Marinette felt a blush rise to her cheeks again and she looked away from him, starting to feel guilty again. She didn't see him grip the steering wheel hard enough to cause his knuckles to turn white.

Once they arrived, Marinette jumped out of the car before Adrien could come around to open her door and rushed inside. She made herself look busy before he came into the building after her. She was rearranging the plates on one of the tables. At least she had been until one of the caterers forced her to stop. She slunk off to sit at her seat. There were two empty seats between her and Adrien and she found herself looking at anything and everything but the blonde. Soon guests started to trickle in and then Alya and Nino arrived.

The start of the reception was very traditional with toasts and the like. After the meal had been served, the DJ announced that the bride and her father were going to have a father daughter dance. This was quickly followed with Nino and Alya's first dance. After that, the DJ announced something that made Marinette's eyes nearly pop out of her head.

"And, as a special request from the bride and groom, we are having a special dance for just the maid of honor and best man. Come on down." He said in an all too cheery and excited voice. Marinette looked over at Adrien like a deer in the headlights.

"Come on, it'll be fun." He said, standing and extending a hand to her. Marinette wanted to shake her head and remain seated firmly in her chair. However, she had dedicated this day to anything and everything that Alya wanted. And so, since Alya was the one who wanted them to dance, the brunette was getting her way. Marinette gently took Adrien's hand and followed as he led her to the dance floor.

"That's it." The DJ said before turning on the music. Of course it was a slow song.

Marinette looked away from Adrien as the two started dancing. "Marinette, I'm sorry that this is...awkward." he said.

"Oh, it's fine." She responded.

"No, it's not. And don't worry, I'm gonna get Nino back for this." Adrien said. Neither of them had looked at the other. They were looking at the crowd around them. At least they were until Marinette stepped on Adrien's foot. "Ow." He said suddenly as the two broke away from each other.

"I am so...so sorry...I...sorry." Marinette said as she took the opportunity to rush away from him. She could hear him behind her telling her that it was okay, but she refused to turn back, pretending that she couldn't hear him. She found a quiet room away from the main dining hall that had a sofa and vanity. She sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. A few minutes passed before there was a soft knock on the door. "Just go back out there and have fun, Alya. I'll be fine." She shouted, seated on the sofa facing away from the door. She heard it open and shut. "I told you, I'm fine." She said.

"I heard you." A familiar voice said behind her. Marinette froze as he walked around the end of the sofa.

"W-what are you...What are y-you?" She stuttered as Adrien sat down next to her.

He looked at his hands while he sat for a moment. "I'm just checking on you." He said, avoiding her gaze. When he did finally look up at her, something in him snapped and he launched himself at her. Their lips connected in a passionate kiss from him. Marinette was too surprised to do anything for a moment. The feeling of his lips on hers was familiar and made her want to melt into the kiss but, when she realized what was happening, she pushed him off of her.

"Stop." She said, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Marinette, I…" he said.

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't know anything about me, Adrien. You can't just kiss me." She said angrily as she stood and paced in the small room.

"I thought you liked me." He said, simply. Marinette couldn't read his gaze.

"You're my boss and a friend. Nothing more." She said. "I'm in love with someone else." She added.

"Who?" He asked simply.

"I…it's stupid. He'll never love me back." she responded before she sat back down next to him. Adrien cocked his head to the side as he regarded her.

"If he won't love you back, then what's the harm in me kissing you?" He asked. Marinette bristled with anger.

"It matters because I care. I hurt him and...I just don't want to hurt him anymore." She said. Adrien nodded. His face was blank, but Marinette almost thought that she saw happiness in his eyes before he looked away from her.

"Was this from a few months ago? When you had to stay at my house that one time?" He asked. Marinette nodded.

"That was about a week after we….fought." she said.

"Maybe it's time to move on if it's been that long and he still hasn't come back to you." He said.

"I can't Adrien. I just...I miss him so much more than I thought I ever could. We've stayed in contact but...it's not the same." She said, hanging her head. "I have written him so many emails that are just sitting in my drafts folder. He says that he needs time to heal, though, so I haven't sent them." She said.

Adrien sat in silence for a moment. "Do you...mind if I read them?" He asked. "...as a friend?" He added.

Marinette shook her head. "No, they're very personal." She said. "I don't think I'd want anyone other than him to read them." She said, looking at him again. Adrien nodded.

"You should send them to him." He said simply.

"No, I told you. He said he needs time to heal." She said.

"It's been months. He's had time." He said simply.

"If he was ready, then he would be back." She said.

"Maybe he's waiting for you to be ready." He suggested. Marinette shook her head.

"You just...don't understand." She said.

"I think I do." He responded.

"No you don't." She said stubbornly.

"Yes, I do. I understand it more than you know." He said. Marinette crossed her arms in a huff and turned away from him.

"Do not." She muttered, wanting to have the last word.

She heard Adrien sigh behind her. "Maybe you should let him decide." He suggested.

"And how would I do that?" Marinette asked, frustrated, turning back toward him with her arms crossed.

"Email him and ask him." He suggested.

"He'll say no." She said stubbornly. Adrien narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Just do it." He said.

"You know what? Fine, I will. And you can see him say no for yourself." She said. His eyes widened in what looked like fear.

"Right now? Marinette you...you can't do that right now. We have to get back out to the reception." Adrien said quickly, but Marinette already had her phone out.

"And sent." She said, hitting the button as Adrien squirmed next to her. When she was done, she put the phone down and bit her lip. She then heard a shrill ping as a notification that an email was received and grabbed her phone anxiously. "That was quick." She muttered and opened the phone. She was surprised to see that there was no new email. Her brow furrowed. "I thought…" she trailed off.

"Must've been mine." Adrien said as he awkwardly stood and grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

"What was it?" She asked.

"Just Marcus emailing me about the new antivirus in Agreste's computer system." He said as he typed a quick message and put his phone back in his pocket. Marinette raised an eyebrow as he sat back down.

"Marcus is working this late? On a Saturday?" She asked.

"He's very dedicated to his job." Adrien said after clearing his throat nervously. Moments later, Marinette's phone notified her of a new email. She shakily opened the message expecting Chat to have said no to her. Adrien leaned curiously over as Marinette read the message.

_'That would be nice.'_

"See? I told you he'd want you to send them." Adrien said. "I'll just...give you some privacy while you do that." He said, patting her on the shoulder before exiting the room.

_Chat,_

_I didn't really expect you to say that. There are so many emails that I haven't sent you. It would take you forever to read through them all. So, I guess I'll give you a summary of them._

_I love you and I miss you so much. I just want to spend time with you again. To have you to confide in and to be your confidant. I want to be there for you and for you to love me, too._

_More than that, I want to know you, the whole you. Chat Noir and your civilian self. And I want for you to know me, too. I know that you're not ready to forgive me and I'm trying to give you space. But really, I just want for you to come back._

_Love,_

_Ladybug_

Her finger shook as it hovered over the send button. She bit her lip as she pushed it. She opened her purse and looked down at Tikki. The Kwami was sound asleep in her purse. Marinette just quietly closed the purse and waited alone, anxiously.


	11. Adrien and Marinette

Adrien had worked hard for the two months leading up to Nino's wedding. Not only had he done his duties with Agreste, but he also had become something of a mentor to the new Chat Noir. He helped his replacement through rough times via their email contact. He would regularly drop camembert off at the man's desk and apartment. After akuma battles, he would always be sure to drop by inconspicuously to check and make sure that Chat was doing okay under the guise of playing videogames or watching anime.

Each battle made him more confident in his replacement, though the man regularly asked if Chat was ready for the Miraculous back. The morning of the wedding, Adrien emailed Chat.

_I'll be swinging by for the ring on Monday morning. Please leave it on your desk. You've done a wonderful job as Chat Noir and should be proud of yourself, but I do think that I'm ready._

The new Chat had agreed quickly. Adrien then got ready for the wedding. He really hated the hassle of putting on a tux, but Nino had insisted. Well, Adrien was sure that Alya was behind it, but that was irrelevant. Adrien had decided that he would do anything and everything to support Nino on this day. Even if that involved the frustration of putting on a tux.

Soon, they were taking pictures before the wedding and then the moment came where Nino took his place and Adrien waited for the cue to walk with Marinette. He had noticed that she'd been distant from him since the last time he saw her as Chat. He didn't blame her for that and had actually found that it was better for him since he knew that she was Ladybug. Still, he missed her.

When he saw her coming toward him in a stunning purple dress he nearly let his jaw drop in awe. He barely managed to utter one word to her and walk with her to the front of the church. The ceremony was done with quickly, and soon she had taken his arm again. He found himself not wanting to let her pull away.

She did, though, as soon as they were out of the church. "Where are you going, Marinette?" He asked and she stopped, becoming flustered.

"I, uh, was going to the station to…" she started, motioning toward the train station.

"Did you forget that I'm giving you a ride to the reception again?" Adrien asked bluntly.

"I...no...yes?" Marinette said. She didn't sound convincing. Adrien escorted her to his car and even opened the door for her. Soon they were heading toward the reception.

"That's a very pretty dress." Adrien said awkwardly a few minutes into their silent drive. He couldn't help glancing over at her during the drive.

"I...uh, thanks." Marinette said, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"I would've tried to see it earlier, but Nino said that Alya was insisting that I didn't." He explained, trying to keep talking with her. He had missed having her to speak with.

"Why?" Marinette asked quickly.

"They said something about bad luck." He said with a chuckle. He'd known that their friends were just making excuses. He assumed that it was so that he would be surprised by how beautiful she was. It had worked.

"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be for the bride and groom, not the maid of honor and best man." Marinette said with a giggle.

"Still, it is...stunning." Adrien stated, gripping the steering wheel tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. He was battling with himself. Part of him wanted to tell her that he was Chat, part of him wanted to just kiss her, and part of him wanted to just go somewhere quiet and enjoy her company.

The rest of the drive was silent and when they got to the reception, Marinette rushed from the car as if it was about to explode. He followed her into the building and saw her messing with the plates on one of the tables. He sat down in his assigned seat and couldn't help but to smile when one of the caterers forced Marinette to leave the table alone.

She slunk to her seat and sat down, avoiding his gaze. He smiled briefly, knowing that she was likely avoiding him because of her feelings for him both as Adrien and Chat. Part of him wanted to alleviate her stress, but he wanted to let her know who he was at the right time. Right now was not the right time. Soon Alya, Nino and the other guests arrived. Adrien focused on eating and talking with people politely until the DJ called for him and Marinette to share a dance. He shot a glare at Nino who just smiled at him with guilt plastered all over his face.

Adrien didn't know how, but he was going to get Nino back for this. Adrien knew that Marinette wasn't ready for this kind of interaction. He attempted to comfort her as they danced and everything was going well until Marinette stepped on his foot. They separated and before he realized what was happening she ran away. He tried calling after her to tell her that he was alright, but she was already gone into the hallway.

He followed her into the hallway and took a few minutes to find which room she was in. When he knocked on the door, she thought he was Alya and told him to go back to the reception. He entered the room as quietly as possible and shut the door behind him. "I told you, I'm fine." She said.

"I heard you." He said, watching as she froze while he walked around the end of the sofa.

"W-what are you...What are y-you?" She stuttered.

He looked at his hands while he sat for a moment. "I'm just checking on you." He said, avoiding her gaze. He knew that if he looked at her he might do something he would regret. He missed her so much as both Ladybug and Marinette and she was, as he'd said before, stunning tonight. It made him feel like he had months prior. Briefly, he did look over at her. When he saw her, he lost control of himself. Before he even realized what he was doing, he was kissing her passionately. She wasn't kissing him back, though. And then suddenly she pushed him off of her.

His eyes widened as he realized what he'd done. He felt ashamed for not having more self control in that instance. But more than that, he was surprised. She had never done that when he was Chat. And now, as Adrien, the man she left him for, came on to her she pushed him away. Initially he was hurt, but then he started to think about how he could learn from this blunder.

"Stop." She said, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Marinette, I…" he said. He still hated seeing her cry.

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't know anything about me, Adrien. You can't just kiss me." She said angrily as she stood and paced in the small room. Adrien watched her from the couch.

"I thought you liked me." He said, simply. He was testing her and he felt as if she knew it when she turned to look at him, measuring his gaze carefully.

"You're my boss and a friend. Nothing more." She said. "I'm in love with someone else." She added quickly. He just sat and stared at her. Was she really talking about him? She hadn't given him this indication during her most recent emails. He had almost assumed she was moving on.

"Who?" He asked simply.

"I…it's stupid. He'll never love me back." she responded before she sat back down next to him. Adrien cocked his head to the side as he regarded her.

"If he won't love you back, then what's the harm in me kissing you?" He asked. Marinette bristled with anger. He realized he had hit a nerve.

"It matters because I care. I hurt him and...I just don't want to hurt him anymore." She said. Adrien nodded, trying not to smile as she spoke. He was sure she was talking about him.

"Was this from a few months ago? When you had to stay at my house that one time?" He asked, needing to be sure. Marinette nodded. And he almost let the smile slip onto his mouth.

"That was about a week after we….fought." she said. She clearly didn't like talking about this to him.

"Maybe it's time to move on if it's been that long and he still hasn't come back to you." He suggested, wanting to see how strong her resolve was.

"I can't Adrien. I just...I miss him so much more than I thought I ever could. We've stayed in contact but...it's not the same." She said, hanging her head. "I have written him so many emails that are just sitting in my drafts folder. He says that he needs time to heal, though, so I haven't sent them." She said. Adrien's eyes widened in surprise. So, she had been trying to express that she wanted him, but she didn't tell him. He realized that it was very much so like her. After all, she'd spent years wanting to pursue him as Adrien without ever telling him.

Adrien sat in silence for a moment. "Do you...mind if I read them?" He asked. "...as a friend?" He added. He couldn't help himself, he was curious to see what she'd written.

Marinette shook her head. "No, they're very personal." She said. "I don't think I'd want anyone other than him to read them." She said, looking at him again. Adrien nodded with a frown. He was trying to think of how he could convince her to let him read them.

"You should send them to him." He said simply as the idea came to him.

"No, I told you. He said he needs time to heal." She said stubbornly.

"It's been months. He's had time." He said, hoping to convince her.

"If he was ready, then he would be back." She said. He started to become annoyed with how she was acting. She was treating Chat Noir like a porcelain doll instead of a partner and he didn't like it.

"Maybe he's waiting for you to be ready." He said. He was almost to the point of just coming out and telling her that he was Chat Noir. The only thing holding him back was that he didn't want to be revealed in this way. No, he had a plan for that.

"You just...don't understand." She said. It took all of Adrien's effort not to roll his eyes.

"I think I do." He responded defiantly.

"No you don't." She said stubbornly.

"Yes, I do. I understand it more than you know." He said. Marinette crossed her arms in a huff and turned away from him. Adrien took the opportunity to roll his eyes.

"Do not." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Adrien sighed in frustration. He knew that his lady was stubborn, but this was ridiculous. "Maybe you should let him decide." He said.

"And how would I do that?" Marinette asked, frustrated, turning back toward him with her arms crossed. Adrien almost smirked seeing the Ladybug-esque fire in her eyes.

"Email him and ask him." He responded.

"He'll say no." She said stubbornly. Adrien narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Just do it." He said, exasperated. It was rather taxing to argue with Marinette.

"You know what? Fine, I will. And you can see him say no for yourself." She said. His eyes bulged. She couldn't email him right then! His phone would go off and then she'd figure him out. This was not how he wanted her to find out.

"Right now? Marinette you...you can't do that right now. We have to get back out to the reception." Adrien said quickly, but she had stubbornly taken out her phone.

"And sent." She said. Adrien squirmed nervously, knowing that his phone would soon notify him of the new message. He waited quietly, knowing that there was nothing he could do. Then it happened, his phone notified him of the new message all too soon. "That was quick." She muttered as she grabbed her phone. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the screen. "I thought…" she trailed off.

"Must've been mine." Adrien said as he awkwardly stood and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He opened the phone, glad that she wasn't questioning him about the timing of the message. He thought quickly, knowing that she was probably going to ask.

"What was it?" She asked just as he'd figured she would.

"Just Marcus emailing me about the new antivirus in Agreste's computer system." He said while he typed a quick response. He only realized his mistake after the words were out of his mouth. There was no way that even Marcus would be at work this late.

"Marcus is working this late? On a Saturday?" She asked. She clearly did not believe him.

"He's very dedicated to his job." Adrien said after clearing his throat nervously. He knew that she couldn't possibly believe him. However, she didn't question it. Soon, her phone notified her of the message that he sent. He had to admit that under different circumstances he would find this exchange amusing. Still, he leaned over to check out what the message said on her phone as if he didn't already know. "See? I told you he'd want you to send them." Adrien said. "I'll just...give you some privacy while you do that." He said, patting her on the shoulder before exiting the room.

Once in the hallway he rested against the door and sighed in relief. That was too close. He wondered why she hadn't realized the lie. His stomach churned. He truly hated lying to her and knew that she would likely be upset at him for the lies he told her over the last few months. However, he was going to face the consequences of those actions. Just not quite yet.

His phone alerted him to a new message. He opened it to see that Marinette had sent him a condensed version of the messages she'd written. He smirked and shook his head. He had been hopeful that she would bombard him with all of the messages that she had written.

_It seems as if you mislead me before, Princess. I was under the impression that you would send the emails that you wrote._

He responded playfully. He wanted his return to being Chat Noir to be a surprise for her. He didn't want to tell her through an email that he was going to be coming back. He wanted to surprise her and make her excited enough that hopefully she wouldn't be too angry with him about his lies.

He was waiting for her response when the door behind him suddenly opened causing him to fall unceremoniously into the room causing Marinette to shriek in surprise. Adrien didn't manage to keep hold of his phone and the device flew across the room.

"Adrien?" She shrieked again once she realized what had happened. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to make sure you had some privacy?" He said as more of a question than a statement.

"Okay, I, uh...I have to go. Are you okay?" She asked, he could tell that she was somewhat panicky and wondered what would have made her this way.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. What's wrong, Marinette?" He asked as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"N-nothing I just have to go...now." Marinette said. "Thank you, Adrien. For everything." She said before rushing from the room, leaving Adrien confused. He set about the process of finding his phone. He located it under the vanity that stood along the opposite side of the small, windowless room. He pulled the phone out of the space, relieved to see that it was unbroken. He noticed that she hadn't responded to him before she left and felt somewhat sad that she hadn't. However, he assumed that she had somehow found out about an akuma or something. He made his way back out to the wedding reception.

Most of the guests were now dancing. Nino pulled Adrien aside before he reached the dining table, which Adrien had been headed toward.

"Hey, dude, what's going on with Marinette?" Nino asked.

"I...she had to go." He said. "Her, uh, vet called because her guinea pig is really sick." He added, scratching the back of his head.

"Marinette doesn't even have a guinea pig." Nino said simply.

"Oh, you know Marinette and her silly excuses." Adrien chuckled nervously. Nino didn't appear to be buying what Adrien was saying.

"What did you do?" He asked.

"Why do I have to have done something?" Adrien asked.

"Because you're a nervous wreck, dude." Nino said.

"I, um...well." Adrien started. He couldn't tell Nino the real reason that he thought Marinette left for. "I uh kissed her." He said, the kiss suddenly popping into his head.

"You what?" Nino asked astonished.

"I couldn't help myself. She was so beautiful and I just...kissed her." He said truthfully.

"And?" Nino asked.

"She, uh, didn't take it well. She kinda ran away." Adrien said.

"She ran away? Dude! Where did she go? Don't you know it's dangerous for women to go wandering around in the middle of the night?" Nino asked angrily.

"I couldn't find her. I'm sure she'll be fine, Nino." Adrien said.

"You'd better hope so, dude. If she's not, Alya and I will both kill you. Marinette is like a little sister to us." Nino said.

"I know, I know. She just needs some space, I think." Adrien stated.

"Well, I hope you're right." Nino said. Adrien finished making his way to the table and sat down while Nino made his way to the dance floor, no doubt to report the news to Alya. Adrien waited anxiously, checking his phone. He eventually sent her another email.

_Everything alright?_

He checked the news and didn't see any indication of an akuma attack. He started to worry about Marinette as she still didn't respond to his email.

\------------------------------------

Marinette read the message from Chat as soon as it was received. Her eyes widened in panic and she re-read the email again. "Tikki" she said as she opened her purse again. The kwami was still asleep. "Tikki, come on." She said. She made to rush out of the room, readying to rouse the kwami with the cold autumn air. When she opened the door, a slender blonde tumbled into the room on his back.

Marinette didn't even notice his phone fly from his hand as she shrieked in surprise. "Adrien?" She shrieked again once she realized who was laying on their back on the floor in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to make sure you had some privacy?" He asked, remaining in his position on the floor.

"Okay, I, uh...I have to go. Are you okay?" She asked, quickly. She wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. What's wrong, Marinette?" He asked as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"N-nothing I just have to go...now." Marinette said. "Thank you, Adrien. For everything." She said before rushing from the room. She ran through the hallway to the nearest exit. Once she was outside, she opened her purse again and pulled Tikki out of it. "Tikki, come on." She said, holding the kwami up in front of her face. The small red figure finally moved.

"Marinette?" She asked slowly opening her eyes.

"Tikki, are you alright?" Marinette asked as she walked. "Are you sick again?" She asked.

"I'll be fine, what's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, sensing the panic that her holder was experiencing.

"Chat Noir knows who I am." She said in panic.

"Of course he knows you, you're his partner." Tikki said.

"No, he knows I'm me. He knows I'm Ladybug. He knows that I, Marinette, swing around Paris in glorified spandex." Marinette said, her voice becoming more hurried as she spoke.

"Calm down, Marinette. I thought you wanted him to know." Tikki said.

"I do, but I...it's just...I just…" Marinette started.

"Take a deep breath and let it out slowly before you pass out, Marinette. It's okay if Chat knows who you are. You don't need to worry. He won't tell anyone." Tikki said. "You just need to breathe." The kwami said slowly. "I said breathe." she added forcefully when Marinette didn't calm down.

"I'm trying, Tikki." She said quickly before taking a deep breath, holding it for a moment, and releasing it. "How long has he known? Did he know when we…?" She trailed off, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Of course he didn't. He didn't find out until after, I'm sure. Remember how he reacted when he realized that the two of you weren't going to reveal yourselves? He obviously didn't know who you were at that point." Tikki responded. Marinette nodded, thinking back to that night. Tikki was right. Chat had been upset that they weren't going to reveal themselves.

"But how did he…?" She started.

"You haven't exactly been yourself, Marinette. He probably noticed." Tikki responded even though she knew exactly when the truth was discovered. She hadn't said anything yet and didn't intend to.

"So, you think he's someone that I know? In my personal life?" Marinette asked as Tikki sneezed. "Okay, Tikki, something's wrong, we have to get you to Master Fu." Marinette said, starting to walk toward the guardian's house.

"Really, Marinette, I'm fine." Tikki responded. "You should worry more about yourself." The kwami added.

"You're the one who's sick, Tikki." Marinette argued.

"I'm not so sick that I won't heal on my own." Tikki replied. Marinette shook her head.

"We're going. Quit arguing." Marinette responded. She didn't even hear her phone alert her to another message as she walked down the street and gently placed Tikki back in her purse. Normally when Marinette walked she was vigilant about her surroundings. Tonight her mind was elsewhere.

She didn't notice how dark the streets around her were or that there were other people in the area. She did, however, notice the biting cold of the autumn evening. She hugged herself as she walked, trying to conserve what she could of her body heat. Soon, however, she heard someone behind her.

"Don't you know that it's not the best idea to go wandering around at night in such a revealing dress?" A voice asked from behind her. Marinette's eyes widened and she turned, ready to fight the person. She realized how she should have paid more attention. "Whoa, whoa. Calm down." The voice said as Marinette instinctively kicked at it. The attacker grabbed her foot in mid-air, but only to stop the kick from connecting. Only then did she realize that she recognized the voice. She looked at her 'attacker' and saw a familiar face.

"Chat Noir. What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, couldn't help but to see your predicament. I figured that you might need some help. What are you doing out here, alone? Dressed like that?" He asked.

"I, uh, well I just came from a wedding and I'm going to see a friend." She said vaguely.

"You didn't have a coat?" He asked.

"I accidentally left it at the reception." She said. Chat nodded.

"Where does your friend live? I could give you a lift." He suggested, pulling his staff from his back and smiling at her. This new Chat Noir had grown on Marinette over the last two months. After his rocky start he turned out to be a great teammate. Marinette nodded at him and gave him Master Fu's address. "Hold on tight" he said as he slipped one arm around Marinette's waist and she gripped his shoulders. Truthfully she hated Chat's staff as a form of transportation, but she realized that it would be a lot quicker than walking.  
When they arrived at Master Fu's, Marinette thanked Chat and made to knock on the door.

"Are you sure you don't need me to stick around? I could help you get back home?" He suggested.

"No thanks, Chat. Just be careful out there." She said, sure that she would be swinging home as Ladybug. He nodded and left as Marinette turned back to the door. She knocked quickly and waited. Soon, Master Fu came to the door.

"Ladybug, what a pleasant surprise." He said as he let her into the house.

"There's something wrong with Tikki." Marinette said quickly and pulled the kwami from her purse.

"I'm fine, Marinette." Tikki sniffled.

"Can you heal her?" Marinette asked, ignoring what Tikki was saying. Master Fu looked over Marinette carefully for a moment.

"Come, have some tea." He said and led Marinette into the other room. "You look like you've had a long night." He said as he poured two cups of hot tea.

"I...yeah. And Tikki isn't feeling well. She's been sneezing and sleeping all of the time." Marinette said.

"It's probably just stress. She doesn't appear to have a fever." He mused. "I'm sure that she will be fine. Especially if she says the same." Master Fu responded. "Now, why have you not urged Chat Noir to come back?" He asked.

"I...he needs time and the man he chose as a replacement has been doing just fine." Marinette said defensively.

"Ladybug, the longer this man continues to pretend to be Chat Noir, the more danger you and Chat Noir are in. You and Chat Noir were chosen and you have a very high tolerance for outside forces such as akumas. However this man does not. Can you imagine what would happen if an akuma had the black cat miraculous?" Master Fu asked.

Marinette set her jaw. "If he's akumatized then I'll deal with it. But I won't let fear of something that hasn't even come close to happening make me try to rush Chat. He needs time. He'll be back when he's ready." She said.

"And when will he be ready, Ladybug?" Master Fu asked.

"I don't know, but I didn't come here for this, I came for Tikki. Something is wrong with her. She's sick." Marinette said, getting frustrated.

"I can channel energy to her, but it will not cure her as she is not sick." Master Fu responded.

"Well do what you can." Marinette replied in a huff.

"Always so impatient." Master Fu responded as he held out his hand to Tikki and took the kwami to a small pillow where he performed a healing ritual. While Master Fu worked on Tikki, Marinette checked her phone and found the email from Chat.

_Sorry, something came up._

She responded quickly before watching eagerly as Master Fu sat with Tikki and channeled energy into her. When his ritual was complete, Tikki flew back to Marinette. "You may need to bring her back every month." Master Fu stated.

"Why? I thought you said that she wasn't sick." Marinette said with worry.

"She's not, but she's using more energy than normal. So, for your safety and hers, it is best if you bring her back." Master Fu stated. Marinette nodded.

"Okay." She said before turning to Tikki. "Come on, Tikki, let's go." She said. She transformed before leaving the house and swung through the streets to her apartment.

"Marinette!" Tikki said as soon as the transformation dropped.

"What, Tikki?" She asked.

"Shouldn't you have gone back to the reception? Alya is probably worried about you!" Tikki stated.

"I'll…" she trailed off as there was a knock at her door. "Hide." She said even though Tikki was already out of sight as Marinette went to the door and opened it slowly.

"Marinette, good. I was getting worried when you didn't come back." Adrien said.

"Adrien? I...I thought you didn't know where I lived." She said quickly.

"Alya told me. Do you...do you mind if I come in?" He asked nervously.

"O-okay." Marinette said, moving so that he could enter the small apartment. She closed the door once he was inside.

"Marinette, I...well, I'm sorry about earlier and I...had so many other plans for...on Monday I was going to…" he couldn't seem to say what he wanted to say. He trailed off as he stared at her. She was still wearing that stunning dress.

"Are you okay, Adrien?" Marinette asked, concerned.

"I s-should go." He said, turning back toward the door.

"No, wait. What did you want to say?" She asked. She saw his shoulders tense. Even though she couldn't see his face she knew he was conflicted.

"I was just worried about you." He said. "T-that was it." He added.

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" She asked.

"It's nothing. I'll…I'll see you on Monday." He said. He was still shaky. "I'm glad you're okay." He said, briefly looking over his shoulder before he moved to leave.

"No, wait." She said and Adrien turned back to her. "Adrien, about earlier, I…sorry about running off." She said.

"It's okay so long as you're okay." He responded, trying to keep his eyes from traveling to her dress. He didn't push her to explain why she left. "Do you want me to tell Alya and Nino that you're not feeling well?" He asked. Marinette saw his eyes briefly look down to her dress again and a reddish hue come over his face.

Marinette nodded. Adrien turned to leave again. "I'll see you on Monday." She said and Adrien left with a nod. Marinette made her way to the door and leaned her back against it, not realizing that Adrien was doing the same from the other side.


	12. Tyler, Marcus, Adrien, and Marinette

Tyler went about his normal duties on Monday morning. He would check on the designers, file paperwork, check on the other employees, and see if there was anything either Gabriel or Adrien needed. When he got to Adrien's office, he noticed that the man was missing. He had not arrived yet for his shift. Tyler made a mental note to go back to the office later. He went to see Gabriel.

"Have you checked on the status of the outfits for the autumn showcase? It is in a week." he said without looking up from his desk.

"Yes. Everything should be complete by the end of the week. Some of the designers are already working on their designs for the winter showcase." he said.

"Wonderful. Please be sure to keep track of when the current designs are complete." he said. Tyler nodded and left the room. He walked to the designers' offices. He checked the offices of the lead designers first and worked his way down. Many of them were putting finishing touches on their designs. When he made his way into Marinette's office to check on the status of her designs he found her with her notebook open, but she had her head laying on the desk and she was snoring.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng." he said, shaking her gently.

"No, thank you." she muttered.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng, wake up." he said quietly as he moved to shake her again. She flailed her arm to try to get him to leave her alone. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I don't want to have to report that you are sleeping to M. Agreste." he said, tapping on her shoulder. She groaned and he set his jaw and shook his head. "Okay, if that's how you want it to be." he said. He turned to leave the office.

As he was leaving the office, he spotted the younger Agreste arriving. "Tyler, good morning." Adrien said with a smile, seeming happier than he had in the past two months.

"Good morning, Adrien." he replied. He then looked back into the office behind him. Adrien looked behind him as well. "I couldn't wake her." he said. "Do you want me to put an official reprimand on her file?" he asked.

"Isn't all of her work for the autumn showcase done?" Adrien asked. Tyler nodded. "I don't think it's too much of an issue. Let her have some well-deserved rest." he added, patting Tyler on the shoulder.

"But she's started working on her designs for the winter showcase." Tyler stated.

"She'll still be able to finish those designs. She has more time than most of the others. I wouldn't worry about it." Adrien stated. Tyler nodded again.

"Adrien. Do you...do you favor Ms Dupain-Cheng since the two of you were in the same class?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, I don't favor her. If it was anyone else, I would treat them the same." Adrien said defensively. Tyler raised an eyebrow. "I mean, she is my friend and…" Adrien trailed off. "It's complicated, but I don't favor her. She works hard. She deserves a break every now and then." he said.

"If people see you favoring her, they won't like it." Tyler commented. Adrien nodded.

"I'll take that under advisement." he said, patting Tyler on the shoulder.

"Adrien." Tyler said as Adrien started to walk away. Adrien turned back toward his assistant. "Why are you late?" he asked, his cold gaze boring into Adrien who didn't even flinch as he stared back.

"I overslept." Adrien stated simply.

"Does this have anything to do with why Ms. Dupain-Cheng is asleep right now?" Tyler asked with narrowing eyes, his mind already made up about what was going on between the two of them.

"No." Adrien said simply.

"Good, because your father wouldn't be happy with you fraternizing with a designer for the label. She might lose her job if you and she were in a relationship because, let's face it, you aren't dispensable to this company, but she is." Tyler stated coldly.

"Understood." Adrien stated, his expression turning sour. "I guess it is a good thing that she and I aren't a couple or anything." He added. "I'll be in my office." He said as he made his way past Tyler.

Tyler nodded. The assistant had noticed how both Marinette and Adrien became depressed around the same time and how Adrien had taken more of an interest in how she was working than the other designers and yet stayed away from her during that time. He assumed that something had gone on between the two, but had no proof. He had seen indications of favoritism toward her from Adrien before, but it had never been so direct. He didn't want to do the paperwork involved with an official reprimand, but also didn't want for the other designers to see Adrien's favoritism. That was why he went back to Gabriel's office.

"M. Agreste?" He asked hesitantly at the door.

"Yes." Gabriel said simply.

"I feel as if Adrien may be favoring one of the designers. Mme. Dupain-Cheng." He said, slowly. He had tried to come up with the best way to word the statement on the way to Gabriel's office, but couldn't manage to come up with a way of explaining the situation without being blunt.

"Why yes, her work is exquisite." Gabriel stated without looking up. Tyler couldn't tell if Gabriel didn't understand what he'd meant or if he was trying to deflect.

"I don't mean her work. I mean her. I found her sleeping in her office this morning and Adrien said that he didn't want me to put an official reprimand in her file." Tyler stated.  
Gabriel slowly looked up at the assistant. Tyler couldn't tell from the stare what Gabriel was thinking. "And what did Adrien have to say about this?" He asked, his voice cold and terrifying.

"He said that she worked hard and deserved a break because she has her work for the autumn showcase done." He said, resisting the urge to stutter.

"And do you have any proof of his favoritism other than this?" Gabriel asked in that same calculating voice.

"Well, no sir." Tyler said hesitantly.

"Then I would suggest not wasting my time." Gabriel stated, going back to his work. Tyler nodded and turned to leave. He heard Gabriel resume writing. "Oh, and Tyler." He stated, causing Tyler to turn. "You may want to strongly consider whether you want to continue to work here. Questioning your direct supervisor and then disputing the result with me could cost you your employment." He added coldly without looking up again as the computer next to him chimed to alert him of a new email.

"Yes, sir." Tyler said with a nod as he left the room. His face turned sour and he couldn't help the anger that built in him as he made his way to his office. He didn't know why he even tried to go to Gabriel. He couldn't help but to feel that the whole situation was unfair. There was clearly some fraternization between Adrien and Marinette and yet his job was threatened for pointing it out.

\-----------------------------------------

Marcus was early to work for once. He made his way to his desk and started looking through the company emails to determine if there were any issues with the website for the customers. He found only small issues that were able to be resolved quickly. He then worked on a new design for the home page of the site. Gabriel insisted that it needed to be changed for each upcoming showcase. Since many of the designs were complete, he knew he would be able to come up with something for the autumn showcase. He had been working on the basic design since just before the previous site had gone live. He liked to incorporate the designs that the designers made, though, and had requested pictures of the works when they were finished. However, he hadn't received pictures from all of the designers of their primary work for the showcase.

He worked in as much as he could before he messaged the remaining designers for pictures of their work. There were only three that he was missing. Two of them responded right away. He knew that it wasn't too urgent to get the other designs as the new full site design wouldn't launch until after the showcase. He worked in what he had and sent the workup to Gabriel in an email for approval.

He was about to leave his desk to go to lunch when he received a reply.

_I'm disappointed, I would have thought you would include even one design from the most prominent designer in the company at this time. This layout simply won't work, you'll need to redesign the entire page._

_Gabriel_

Marcus glared at the screen. Of course the page hadn't been completed, but he didn't think that it would have to be completely redone just because the work of one designer was missing. He found himself glaring at the computer in front of him in anger. He had worked for months on the design and he couldn't help but to feel like it wasn't fair that Gabriel had dismissed it within a minute.

\-----------------------------------------

No one noticed the single black butterfly flit into the Agreste building, searching for its victim. However, within minutes the employees were rushing outside in a panic as chaos started to ensue. Adrien had felt that something was wrong just before the screaming started. When it did, he rushed out of his office and looked for the source of the screaming. When he saw it, his eyes widened. There was an akumatized victim dressed in black and white. However, that wasn't what had caught his attention. No, what had caught his attention was the box that the victim was holding.

"Soon, equality will be realized and the world will be balanced and fair." The man said. "Soon, I will have Ladybug's miraculous and then the world will be equal." He said. Adrien knew why he wasn't talking about getting Chat's miraculous. He already had it in the small black box. All Adrien could do was wonder why the akuma hadn't put the ring on and started wrecking havoc with both his own powers and the power of the miraculous. He didn't have time for that, though. He rushed to Marinette's office and closed the door, locking it behind him.

"Marinette" he said quickly as he rushed to her. "Marinette" he said shaking the girl.

"What?" She whined.

"You need to get up. There's an akuma." He said. Suddenly, Marinette sat upright.

"What?" She shrieked as Adrien moved to put a hand over her mouth.

"There's no time. We need to get you out of here." He said.

"W-what do you mean? Why are you getting me?" She asked, confused as to why Adrien would have rushed to her. She saw a look that she couldn't interpret cross his face.

"We don't have time, Marinette. He's out there." He said.

"But what are you doing here?" She asked. Adrien hung his head for only a moment.

"I'm getting you up because Chat Noir's been akumatized." He said in a low voice.

"How do you know it's Chat?" She asked.

"H-he only wants Ladybug's miraculous. He already has Chat Noir's." He stated, trying quickly to come up with a reason. Marinette looked like she wanted to say more, but then the door handle jiggled. He quickly turned back to the door and hunching his shoulders slightly, ready to spring into action if needed.

He knew that it was probably another worker looking for somewhere to hide. After all, his replacement didn't know who Ladybug was. There would be no reason for him to come to her office. "Get to cover." Marinette said, not knowing what kind of powers the akuma might have.

Adrien was about to respond when the door exploded sending splinters everywhere. The Equalizer was on the other side and smiled when he saw Marinette.

"Give me your miraculous." He said, lifting a hand toward her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Marinette replied with a snarl.

"Have it your way." He said before a purple butterfly shape illuminated his face. He then smirked and turned, pointing at Adrien a white light flashed toward him like lightning and he didn't have time to dodge it. Adrien was struck with the power and bowed his head briefly before looking up at Marinette. "Make things fair." Equalizer said with a laugh. "Give her what she deserves." Adrien didn't see what Marinette did, but soon she was attacking Equalizer as Ladybug. "Give her what she deserves, Adrien." Equalizer urged.

Adrien suddenly rushed forward and quickly joined the fight. However, the look on Equalizers face indicated that the akumatized victim hadn't expected Adrien's fist to fly toward him. Ladybug was clearly surprised, too as she had dodged his incoming attack and then watched as he continued to attack the man in front of him. Adrien's face was blank as he fought.

"What are you doing?" Equalizer asked as he managed to get away for a moment.

"Ladybug deserves help." Was all that Adrien said as he rushed at the villain again. He was pulled back, though as a yoyo wrapped around his wrist.

"Stop, Adrien. You need to get to cover." Ladybug said, clearly worried about something.

"You deserve help. It's the only way to be fair." He said simply as he tried to go back to the Equalizer.

"I deserve to be listened to." Ladybug stated. Adrien stopped struggling and looked back at her briefly. Ladybug stared at him as she flicked her wrist and the yoyo went back to her. Adrien simply nodded.

"Yes, you do." He said briefly.

Ladybug then looked over to Equalizer to see him smirking. While she had been distracted, he had placed others under his power. He turned to run through the building. Ladybug didn't know what his intentions were, but she couldn't let him get away. She chased after him and into a lobby full of chaos. Workers that hadn't been able to evacuate were now exacting what they felt was justice on each other. "Lucky Charm" Ladybug shouted as she ran, throwing her yoyo into the air.

The yoyo came back down with a red and black fishing pole. Ladybug looked around as she ran, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do with the charm. She saw the door, Equalizer's pocket, and the fishing pole flash as she formed a plan. She stopped running to cast the fishing line at the door. The hook said through the handle of the door and Ladybug pulled the line tight to shut the door before Equalizer got to it. He then turned to her as she wound the other end of the string around a desk leg to keep the door closed.

Ladybug watched as he pointed at her and knew that she had to act. She rushed forward, moving from side to side so that it would be more difficult for him to hit her. She then slid along the floor and grabbed at the pocket that had lit up before. She heard the fabric tear and felt an object within the fabric that she was now clutching. The Equalizer didn't even seem to notice what had happened. However, Ladybug quickly threw the object to the ground and stomped on it. She only realized what it was after the little black butterfly was flitting away. She stared down at the USB drive that was in about three pieces briefly before she used her yoyo to capture and purify the akuma. The then set everything right. She looked away as the costume melted away.

"Y-you can give me the ring. I'll look after it." She said, not looking at him. Adrien had said this was Chat and she wasn't interested in knowing what his true identity was.

"No, he was going to take it back today." He said. "If it's not on my desk, he won't be able to get it." He added in a worried voice.

"You've been through a lot, but I think I know how to get it back to him." She said as she heard her miraculous start to beep. "Hurry." She said, suddenly panicked.

"I'm so sorry for whatever I did." He said as Ladybug still didn't feel the box being pushed into her hand. "I just felt so...so angry and hurt."

"If you don't hurry up, my transformation will drop. I know that you're sorry. You don't have to be. You were the victim here." She said, closing her eyes as she turned toward him.

"I let you down, though." He said.

"It wasn't your fault." Ladybug replied.

"You don't understand…"

"Give me the box now, I need to go." Ladybug said quickly as her earrings beeped again. Suddenly she felt the box being shoved into her hand and she turned and ran, finally opening her eyes again, back to her office. She slammed the door behind her just before she transformed back, thankful that there wasn't a window on the door.

"M-Marinette…" Tikki stuttered.

"What is it, Tikki?" She asked. When the kwami didn't answer, Marinette looked down at her to see her staring behind Marinette. The girl's eyes widened as she turned, she hadn't looked around the room when she rushed in. Her eyes fell on Adrien.

"Adrien, I…" she trailed off.

"I know." He said. Marinette thought back to what Tikki had said to her months ago. That Adrien knew who she was.

"The...night I spent at your apartment?" She asked and he nodded.

"I didn't want you to get upset that I knew. You talked about having...well, you talked about your time with Chat. I...well, I just know that he wouldn't have done that with anyone else." He said.

"Th-that's not... I mean...I didn't…"

"I see that you have his ring now." Adrien interrupted her. Marinette looked down at her hand and then up at Adrien. Suddenly her eyes widened.

"How did you know this was Chat's ring?" She asked. Adrien's eyes widened.

"I uh...I didn't...uh…"

"When you came to get me up, you knew that it was Chat because he had the ring, but it wasn't on. It was in this box. How did you know?" She asked, looking at him.

"Why do you have it?" He asked.

"I was going to give it to a mutual friend." Marinette said, gauging Adrien's response carefully. He couldn't look at her, a worried look then took over his face.

"Something's wrong with her." He said, Marinette looked down to see that Tikki had sank to the floor.

"Tikki!" She exclaimed and bent to pick the kwami up. "What's wrong, Tikki?" She asked.

"I'm just hungry, Marinette. You shouldn't worry so much." Tikki said with a shiver.

"I have some cheese in my office if you need it." Adrien said. Marinette looked up at him.

"Cheese? Why would she want cheese?" She asked, suddenly remembering the camembert he'd left by her purse when she'd spent the night.

"Isn't that what she eats?" He asked.

Marinette was about to speak when Tikki coughed in her hand. "Yeah, could you go and get the cheese?" She asked. Adrien nodded and rushed from the room. Marinette looked down at Tikki. "What's wrong? You're never this weak after a fight." She said.

"It's nothing, Marinette." Tikki responded.

"No, something is wrong." Marinette insisted.

"This happens, Marinette. It's completely normal." Tikki said. Marinette was about to push for more information when Adrien returned, shutting the door behind him. Marinette offered the cheese that he gave her to Tikki. "Blegh, this stuff is horrible." The kwami complained as she ate.

"I thought you would like it." Adrien addressed Tikki all too casually for Marinette's liking.

"I'm not Plagg." Tikki said angrily as she took another hesitant bite.

"How did you know she could eat cheese?" Marinette asked.

"I, uh...I didn't want…" Adrien hung his head.

"Adrien, what's going on with you?" She asked. Adrien heaved a large sigh before he spoke without looking up at her.

"Are...are liars still losers?" He asked hesitantly.

"Chat?" Marinette asked. The only time she had ever said it like that had been when she was with Chat and Copycat. Even her statement to Lila was slightly different and that was the only time she'd mentioned her distaste for liars in front of Adrien. He looked up at her slowly.

"I…wanted to wait to tell you…until I had it back." He said.

"W-who gave you the ring?" She asked, not knowing why she was testing him.

"Master Fu, the same one who gave you your miraculous." He said quietly.

"What did you say to me after we fought Lady WiFi?"

"That I needed to know who you were and I wouldn't tell anyone, Cat's Honor." he responded with a smirk, remembering the event fondly.

"What would you call me when you visited me at my parent's bakery?" She asked.

"Princess." He said. "Your parents always made the best croissants." He then looked at Marinette to see her lip quivering. "Marinette." He said, closing his eyes as if he was hurt. 

"Don't cry." He said.

"You knew." She said, her voice cracking. He looked at her. "You knew it was me and you played with my feelings." She said.

"I didn't know when we…." He trailed off.

"At the wedding." She said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I wasn't...I didn't mean...I shouldn't have kissed you. I couldn't help myself. You looked so beautiful and I missed you so much. I just…" he trailed off.

"And when you came to my apartment after?" She asked.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." He said. "I was worried about you." He added.

"And when I went to see you as Ladybug and you said you weren't him?" She asked, sniffling. Adrien closed the space between them and pulled Marinette into a hug. To his surprise, she let him.

"I wasn't ready for you to know then. I wasn't even ready to know who you were. I am now." he whispered into her ear. He felt her arms surround him and her hands grasp his shirt as she released a sob into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry that you've been hurt. I just needed time." He added.

"Adrien, I…I don't…" she trailed off as he turned to kiss her cheek. Her tears continued to fall as his lips made contact with her skin.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He whispered before moving to kiss her cheek again. He had closed his eyes when he did and he felt her move slightly in his embrace. He hadn't been prepared, however, to connect with her soft, warm lips. She obviously hadn't either as both of them froze. Adrien broke the chaste kiss after a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean." He stated, pulling back to look her in the eyes.

"K-kitty?" she stuttered hesitantly. Adrien was about to respond when the door behind him creaked open.


	13. Adrien

Marinette was still clutching the small jewelry box tightly as Adrien pulled away from her and turned to the door. At the door was Tyler. "Mme. Dupain-Cheng, I was…" he trailed off, seeing Adrien in the room. His eyes narrowed. "Hello, M. Agreste. Imagine seeing you here." He glowered.

"The akuma had been chasing him. He came in here to hide." Marinette said quickly, not quite sure whether she was covering for herself or Adrien. Tyler just nodded.

"Well, I see that both of you are okay given the circumstances." He said. "Adrien." He addressed briefly before exiting the room. Adrien looked back at Marinette as Tyler left the door open.

When he left, Marinette was temporarily confused until Adrien turned back to her. Suddenly, the feelings that she'd had before came rushing back to her. "Marinette, I…" he trailed off as Marinette shoved the box into his hand and turned her back on him. She made her way to her desk and found Tikki in one of the drawers. She quickly moved the kwami back to her purse and sat down at her desk without a word. "Marinette." Adrien tried. He could tell how hurt she was from looking at her. Marinette shot him a quick glare before looking back down at her sketchbook and picking up her pencil. Adrien waited for a few minutes before turning and walking back to his office. He wanted to just hug her again, but didn't think that it would necessarily be the best time.

No one would have guessed that there had been an akuma attack minutes before. Adrien, however, was unfazed. He was more focused on the raven-haired woman whose office he'd just left. "She just needs time." He muttered to himself as he sat down in his office. "It is a lot to handle." He added before opening the box.

His eyes widened when he looked inside to find it empty. He thought quickly trying to remember if he'd seen his replacement when he'd arrived. If he had, he'd know that the man hadn't had enough time to take the ring anywhere and would probably still have it. He gave a frustrated shout as he couldn't remember. His mind was in a panic.

He closed his eyes and took a brief moment to think through his morning. He'd arrived late and gone straight to his office. No, that wasn't right. Who had he seen on his way in. Tyler! That's right, Tyler gave him a hard time about Marinette when he was on his way to his office, but he hadn't seen Marcus.

He rushed out of the room and down the hall. He quickly made his way through a door to the stairway and down into the basement. "Marcus?" He shouted as he started down that hallway. He made his way quickly to the man's desk and rustled the papers around on it. There was no sign of the ring. Adrien let out a brief shout of frustration before he made his way back up the stairs. He looked for the man he'd chosen as his replacement, but didn't see him in the lobby or the hallways.

He pulled out his phone and emailed him from Chat's email.

_I just checked your desk and didn't see the ring. Do you have it?_

He asked hurriedly. He paced while he waited impatiently for Marcus's response.

_I had it this morning. I'm sorry, Chat. I was akumatized and I remember being at my desk and then the next thing I remember is Ladybug demanding the ring. I looking in the box and it was empty. I'm trying to figure out what happened, now._

_I'm really sorry._

The email came and all the color drained from Adrien's face. The only thing that he could think of was that when Marcus had been akumatized, he'd taken the ring to Hawkmoth. He couldn't think of any other reason for it to be missing.

_What time had it been?_

He asked as a last ditch effort. If it hadn't been too long ago, then Adrien might be able to find the ring or where it was taken. Perhaps it had fallen out of the box? He closed his eyes as he waited, thinking about how stupid he'd been. "I should've never taken time off." He said, suddenly thinking about Plagg. There was no telling what Hawkmoth would do to the kwami.

_I was just about to go to lunch. And then I gave Ladybug the box about 5 minutes ago._

Came the quick response. Adrien bolted from the room. It had to be there. There was no way that Marcus could make it from his desk to Hawkmoth and back if he'd been akumatized right before lunch. Adrien looked around on the floor, hoping to find it. He heard someone clear their throat behind him.

"Can I help you, Adrien?" Tyler asked in a cold voice.

"I lost my ring in the scuffle earlier. Can you help me find it?" Adrien asked.

"A ring?" Tyler asked. "What does it look like?"

"It's silver and a bit wide. It doesn't have any stones. It's kind of rectangular." He said as he looked.

"Hm." Tyler expressed as he started to help Adrien look for the ring. After looking for a while, he looked over at Adrien. "You might want to get a new one." He said.

"This one was special. It had sentimental value." Adrien said.

"Ah, a gift." Tyler said in a voice that Adrien wasn't comfortable with. Adrien glanced over at the man to see that he had a smirk twisting his features.

"Yes." He said before hesitantly adding, "from a friend many years ago."

"Which friend?" He asked.

"You wouldn't know him." Adrien said defensively.

"Him?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, an old friend. He was like a mentor to me years ago." Adrien stated. Tyler regarded him suspiciously.

"I still doubt that you will find a ring out here. There's not many places for one to hide." Tyler stated before walking away. Adrien continued to look anyway. He was still looking when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Adrien, what are you doing?" A cold voice asked. Adrien's head snapped up and he turned to see his father, nearly tumbling over in the process.

"Father. I lost my ring. I'm just looking for it." Adrien said, nervously as he steadied himself.

"Now is not the time, Adrien. You have duties to attend to." Gabriel stated.

"Yes, father." Adrien said as he stood, hanging his head. Gabriel regarded him closely as Adrien made his way back down the hallway.

_You probably didn't have a chance to take it to Hawkmoth. Please look for it. I am not able to._

Adrien emailed to Marcus who immediately agreed. Adrien then bit his lip as he emailed Marinette.

_Ladybug,_

_I know you're angry at me, but I need you to know this. I might be gone for a while longer. The ring is gone. I wanted you to know in case there was an attack._

_I spoke to the man that I'd had replace me as Chat Noir. He said that before he was akumatized the ring was in the box and now it's not. I don't think he would have been able to get it to Hawkmoth, but we need to be cautious._

_Be careful, bug._

_Chat Noir._

He took a deep breath before he sent the message, sure that she wasn't going to take the news well. After he sent the message, he waited for what seemed like forever for a response. When one finally came, he was almost afraid to look at it.

_Meet me at our place after work._

That was it. Adrien released a brief sigh and nodded to himself, figuring that she was going to focus on working with him to find the ring. He sent a quick message agreeing to meet her and then went back to his work. His stomach was twisting with nerves through the rest of the day. He checked back with Marcus near the end of the day. Marcus hadn't been able to find the ring. At the end of the day, he made his way directly to the abandoned building and up to the top floor. He waited for just a few moments, still uncomfortable in the destroyed room despite the time that had passed. Nothing had changed about it. It was as if Marinette hadn't been there either and he assumed she hadn't.

As if thinking about her had summoned her, Marinette walked into the room from the stairwell. "Marinette, I…" Adrien started, but he didn't even get a sentence out before he saw Marinette's glare.

"I knew I should've taken it from him when you gave it to him." She glowered.

"I...I'm sorry, Marinette." Adrien stated.

"How do you know that he didn't have time to take it to Hawkmoth?" She asked.

"Because he was only akumatized for maybe 15 minutes before you purified the akuma. Unless Hawkmoth was there, he couldn't have gotten the ring." He said.

"I don't like this." Marinette said with her arms crossed. She could've strangled him when she received the email, but she'd held herself back. Now she just wanted to find the ring and get everything back to normal. "Tikki?" She asked, opening her purse.

"Yes, Marinette?" Tikki asked as she flew out of the confines of the purse.

"Do you have any way of finding it?" She asked.

Tikki shook her head. "I wish I could, Marinette, but I'm only connected to the Ladybug earrings." She said. Marinette scrunched her face as she thought.

"What about when I'm Ladybug? Could I track it? I've tracked Chat himself before using the yoyo." She said.

"It's worth a try." Tikki said.

Soon Ladybug stood in front of Adrien with the yoyo in hand. Adrien moved so that he could see over her shoulder. As he watched, he saw a tiny green paw print form on the screen. "There." He said.

"I'll go and get it. You stay here." Ladybug said after a short pause. She sounded hesitant, but Adrien didn't pick up on the apprehension in her voice.

"But…" Adrien started.

"No, Adrien. If Hawkmoth has it then you won't be able to get it back." Ladybug stated.

"If Hawkmoth has it, you shouldn't go after it. He could catch you. Plus, chances are he doesn't have it." Adrien stated.

"Well someone does." Ladybug stated, looking back at the yoyo.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"Because that's not Agreste." Ladybug stated, showing Adrien the screen again. "Agreste is here." She said, pointing to another place on the map. Adrien's eyes widened as he looked at the map. "Stay here." Ladybug said. "I'll be back." She added in a softer voice before she ran and jumped from the window, swinging through the air. That sight gave Adrien a flashback to the night that started this whole thing. He took a deep, calming breath and sat down, realizing that he wouldn't be able to go after her even if he wanted to.

All he could do was wait and hope that the worry Marinette had wasn't true. He waited long after he thought she should be back. While he waited, he took out his phone and emailed Marcus.

_Have you had any luck?_

Was all that he asked. This was followed by a prompt, "no." Adrien bit his lip as he stared down at his phone. He nervously made to type a message to Ladybug, but couldn't quite come up with what to say. Eventually he wrote something legible and sent it.

_Are you okay? Have you found it?_

He waited anxiously for a response not even thinking about where her phone might be since she'd transformed. He had never thought about where their regular clothes or items went after their transformation. He didn't know that she wouldn't be able to retrieve her phone unless she was out of her transformation and so, when he received a response he thought nothing of it.

_I'm pinned down. I need your help._

Was the simple response followed by an address. Adrien didn't think. He just rushed into the situation. He didn't know what trouble she might be in, but he couldn't just let her down. He rushed as fast as his feet could carry him to the all too familiar address on his phone before he stopped dead in his tracks in front of the gate of Agreste Mansion.

His mouth hung open as he double checked the address and then realized what it had taken him far too long to realize. Ladybug had tracked his ring to his father's house. The gate opened automatically after a moment and Adrien walked up to the mansion cautiously. How could his ring have gotten there? Had his father found it and recognized it? His eyes then widened.

Marinette had said that she was pinned down. Was his father akumatized again? What could have possibly caused that? More questions flooded his mind as he opened the door to the mansion.

"Father?" He called out. After a moment he heard quick, snappy footsteps and then Nathalie appeared.

"Adrien. We weren't expecting you." She said, tapping quickly on the tablet that she carried everywhere.

"Is my father here?" He asked, unsure of what to say. Nathalie looked at him calculatingly.

"Yes, he's in his study." She stated after a moment. She had never seemed so cold to him before. It was jarring for Adrien. Still he nodded and made his way past her to his father's study. The giant portrait of his mother still stood at the end of the room, but he found the room empty. He looked around, confused until Nathalie followed him into the room.

Adrien was about to ask her where he was when a circular portion of the floor in front of the painting opened and Gabriel rose on a platform into the room. "Father, what's going on?" He asked. Gabriel smiled and the sight sent a chill down Adrien's spine.

"There's no use keeping secrets any more Adrien." Gabriel stated simply before sitting down at his desk. Adrien gulped.

"Father, I...what were you doing? Where does that platform go?" Adrien asked.

"I figured you would be more interested in how Miss Dupain-Cheng was doing." Gabriel stated. Adrien's eyes widened.

"Where is she?" He asked. Gabriel briefly looked at Adrien before producing Marinette's phone and placing it on the desk. He then pulled more objects from his pocket.

"I knew that she would come. She's always been so headstrong." He stated as his hands moved toward the side of his face. Adrien couldn't see what he was doing, but he could guess. Adrien took a deep, shaky breath before reacting. He didn't even think as he launched himself across the room and threw himself against his father. The chair that Gabriel was sitting on tipped backward and both father and son fell. Gabriel's hand let go of what he'd been holding.

Two small earrings and a ring fell and bounced along the floor, sliding toward the wall. Adrien launched himself after them and grabbed the ring in time to slip it onto his finger before a hand wrapped around his ankle and he was yanked backward.

"Plagg, claws out." He shouted as quickly as he could before he even saw the Kwami. Once the transformation was complete, he kicked the hand off of his foot and made to grab the earrings, but they were gone. Adrien looked up to see Nathalie holding them. "Give them to me, now." He said, pulling his baton out from behind him.

However, behind him he heard his father chuckle. "Nooroo…" he didn't have the opportunity to finish his sentence as Chat's eyes widened and he then jumped and twisted toward his father, striking him with the staff. At the same time, the staff extended to strike Nathalie. Chat didn't even have time to process what was happening as he fought the two others in the room. He didn't even realize what happened after that point until he had two earrings and a brooch in his hands. He then looked around the room and saw his father and Nathalie lying on opposite sides of the room, both bleeding, but conscious. He put both of the miraculous in his pocket before turning to his father.

"Where is she?" He growled to his father, suddenly realizing what he had subconsciously known as soon as he'd entered the mansion. His father was Hawkmoth and Nathalie had been helping him for years.

"Down." Gabriel stated, pointing at the portrait. Adrien made his way over to the portrait.

"What do I do?" He half-shouted. Nathalie, with some effort, made her way to the portrait and pointed to the spots that Adrien needed to push.

Within moments, Adrien was being lowered into a room with white butterflies flitting around. There was an open window, making the room look like an observatory. The pale evening light pouring through the window illuminated the room just enough for Adrien to see a figure lying near the center of the room. He rushed to her.

"Marinette." He said frantically as he pulled her to him. She hissed slightly as he moved her. "Sorry, sorry. What can I do?" He asked frantically.

"A-Adrien yo...your f-fath…"

"I know." Adrien cut her off. "What can I do for you?" He asked, trying to see where she was wounded. He couldn't see too well in the fading light, but what he could see were gashes across her torso. He could feel the warm liquid seeping from the cuts and he could see a bruise forming on her shoulder just at the edge of her pink shirt.

"M-Mast-ter Fu." She said shakily. Adrien scooped her up as carefully as he could. He then used his staff to vault out of the window and through the city. He landed hard in front of the guardian's home and just managed to keep from falling. He slammed his free fist against the door as hard as he could.

The door opened after a moment. "Chat Noir." Master Fu looked surprised. He then saw who Adrien was carrying. "Ladybug." He said and motioned for Chat to follow him into the home. Adrien quickly followed him and laid Marinette down gently where Master Fu indicated. "This may take a while." He said. "Wait outside."

Adrien reluctantly left the room. He paced in the hallway for a few minutes before realizing that he had just left his father and Nathalie bleeding in the study. He pulled out his baton and called the police. "Hey, Chat Noir here. Ladybug and I found Hawkmoth. He is Gabriel Agreste. I have his miraculous now, but he and his assistant are needing some help in his study." He said. He then ended the call without giving any additional information.

He then continued to wait anxiously until he realized he was still transformed. He let the transformation drop after a sigh. Part of him was excited to see Plagg, but he was still preparing for the kwami to be upset with him. When Plagg came out of the ring he stared at Adrien for a moment. His face was initially stern, but softened as he stared at the boy. Adrien then burst into tears.

"He hurt her, Plagg. He hurt her and it's all my fault." He said. "And he... he's…."

"It's okay, kid. You didn't know." Plagg said, flying to Adrien and patting his shoulder comfortingly. "I'm as much to blame as you are anyway." He added. Adrien looked at him, confused. "He used me when she came to him." He said hesitantly. Adrien's face contorted in pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He said as he cried again, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He waited there, crying with only his kwami for comfort while Master Fu attempted to heal Marinette.


	14. Marinette and Adrien

Before Marinette left to retrieve Adrien's ring, she transformed into Ladybug in front of him and used her yoyo to try to find the miraculous. She didn't expect to see it until Adrien pointed to a tiny green paw print form on the screen. "There." He said. Ladybug stared at the point on the map, a pit forming in her stomach. She knew where he was pointing and was surprised that he didn't realize it right away. As angry as she was at him, she couldn't handle the idea of him finding out that his father could be the villain they'd been chasing all along. She knew that it would crush him and she hoped that she was wrong.

"I'll go and get it. You stay here." Ladybug said after a short pause. She didn't want to let him know what she was thinking. However, since the ring wasn't at Agreste, she was assuming that whoever took the ring was probably Hawkmoth. And there it was, a green paw print right where Gabriel Agreste's mansion was.

"But…" Adrien started.

"No, Adrien. If Hawkmoth has it then you won't be able to get it back." Ladybug cut him off. There was no way that she was going to let him go there with the possibility that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. She had suspected him years before. However, when he, himself, was akumatized she assumed that she was wrong. Now she had more evidence and her old theory was resurfacing.

"If Hawkmoth has it, you shouldn't go after it. He could catch you. Plus, chances are he doesn't have it." Adrien stated causing Ladybug to look at him calculatingly.

"Well someone does." Ladybug stated, looking back at the yoyo. She couldn't look at him right then, not while she thought about his father possibly being Hawkmoth.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"Because that's not Agreste." Ladybug stated, showing Adrien the screen again. "Agreste is here." She said, pointing to another place on the map. Adrien's eyes widened as he looked at the map. Ladybug wondered if he had figured out what she had known since looking at the spot to begin with. She decided not to stay to find out. "Stay here." she said. "I'll be back." She added in a softer voice before she ran and jumped from the window, swinging through the air. She bit her lip as she made her way to the mansion, hoping that she was wrong.

As she approached the building, she saw that there was an open circular window. She slipped through it without thinking. She found herself in a dark room with white moths flying around. She gasped, knowing in her gut that this was Hawkmoth's lair.

"Mr. Agreste?" She shouted, looking around to try to find him. That was until she heard him start to chuckle softly. She turned toward the noise. Despite the light from the open window, she couldn't see who was making the noise. Then he stepped out of the dark. In that moment, Ladybug felt more terror than she had at any time before.

Standing before her was a new Chat Noir, Gabriel's Chat Noir. Before she could properly react, Chat's staff extended, hitting her in the chest and knocking the air out of her lungs. Ladybug staggered as her foe moved with unexpected speed and grace as he darted forward. The staff shrunk as he lifted it and Ladybug didn't have a chance to block the blow to her shoulder.

She let out a shout as she was forced to the ground. Before she could get up, a black gloved hand swiped at her chest. The claws dug in and tore the fabric of the Ladybug suit and sank into the skin beneath. She shrieked and moved to kick Gabriel off of her, but he swiped at her leg with the staff before striking her again with his unoccupied hand.

Before Ladybug could react, Gabriel moved again. This time he was pinning her shoulders to the ground with his knees. "How lovely of you to drop in Miss…" trailed off. Marinette's eyes widened as she felt the earrings being taken off. "...Dupain-Cheng." he ended with a smirk as the room filled with a brief pink glow before Gabriel chuckled and stowed the earrings. He sliced at Marinette's torso again as he got up before he heard her phone notify her of an incoming message.

Marinette tried to keep him from grabbing her phone, but Gabriel was far too quick especially when he was using the miraculous and she was injured. He smiled as he opened the phone.

"You really should have a password. And what's this? An email from Chat Noir? Am I to assume that this is the original Chat Noir?" He asked gleefully. Marinette shook her head and tried to sit up.

"It's n-not him." She said shakily.

"You've never been a good liar, Ms. Dupain-Cheng." He stated as he tapped on the phone quickly. "Don't make me regret not using Cataclysm on you." He said threateningly as Marinette tried to make her way to her feet. She started to feel dizzy and slumped back to the floor. She was losing too much blood. He had sliced deep into her stomach and chest. "I must say, I was surprised. I didn't expect you to be Ladybug. But then that IT worker told me that it was you and gave me this ring." He said with a laugh. "Imagine my luck at akumatizing the new Chat Noir." He added, laughing again. "And now to get your partner here." He stated as he tapped on the phone quickly.

"Why d-do you want to h-have Chat come here?" She asked, her vision swimming as she spoke and rolled onto her side. She didn't even notice that he told her who the new Chat was.

"To make sure that he doesn't come after me." Gabriel said simply as he took off Chat's ring and retrieved the earrings. "And now we wait." He said. After a while of waiting and not knowing whether she was even conscious or not, Marinette heard the tapping of heels on the floor above them.

"And that's my cue." Gabriel said simply as he made his way toward the edge of the room and was lifted out on a platform. Marinette struggled to stay awake as she heard a scuffle break out above her. She silently prayed that Adrien was okay, that Gabriel wouldn't hurt his own son. After the commotion stopped, Marinette heard the platform lowering into the room. Marinette was only able to move enough to smile slightly as she heard Adrien's voice. He was okay. That's all that mattered to her. As she lay there still bleeding, all she could think about was how horribly she'd treated both sides of him over the last two months. She wished that she could make it up to him, but she was at least consoled by the fact that he was okay.

Then there was pain as he tried to move her. Marinette briefly recalled their conversation before Chat scooped her up and vaulted his way through the city at her request. She lost consciousness at some point during the trip.

When she woke, her eyes snapped open with a start. She didn't recognize her surroundings. She was laying on a plush bed in a minimalistic room with plain white wallpaper, a black dresser, and a black nightstand. She moved to get up, but pain bloomed from her stomach. She let out a small shout and laid back down. Adrien rushed into the room only moments later, a panicked look on his face. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I just hurt. What's going on? Where am I?" She asked as her memories from before flowed into her mind. "Where is your father? How did you get me out of there?" She started to ask more questions, but Adrien launched himself at her and pulled her into a hug. Marinette let out a hiss as the movement caused the pain to come again.

"Sorry. I...sorry." he said, moving backward. "It's just you're okay. Y-you're at my apartment. Master Fu said that you would need somewhere to rest for a few days." He said. "M-my father's in custody." He added hesitantly.

"Oh, kitty. I'm so sorry. I wanted to...I didn't want you to have to deal with him." She said. Her eyes then widened, "Tikki!" She suddenly shouted and put her hands to her ears, feeling the earrings were gone.

"I have the earrings here. She should be okay." Adrien said hurriedly as he rushed to his dresser and grabbed the red and black studs and brought them to her. Marinette started to reach for them before pausing.

"S-should we still keep them? Since we don't have to worry about Hawkmoth anymore?" She asked carefully.

"Master Fu didn't ask for them back. And who knows, there might be other threats for us to handle." Adrien stated. Marinette nodded before taking the earrings and carefully putting them back on.

"Marinette!" a high-pitched squeak filled the room and the red creature dove at Marinette trying her best to hug the girl. Marinette laughed lightly.

"Hi, Tikki." She said.

"I was so worried Marinette." She said. Marinette patted Tikki gently before looking back up at Adrien.

"It's okay, Tikki. Everything will be okay." She said, keeping eye contact with Adrien and hoping that he felt the same. Adrien lowered his gaze and tried to back out of the room. "No." Marinette said, trying to get up again.

"You can't do that!" Adrien chided, suddenly rushing back to her side and moving to keep her in the bed. "Master Fu said that it would take time for you to heal. M-my...he really hurt you. What did he do?" He asked.

Marinette paused. "He...scratched at me. With the claws. That's it." She said.

"Marinette, you've got bruising along with the scratches." He said. "He hit you, didn't he?" He asked.

"I...he didn't use Cataclysm." Marinette said in a defensive voice.

"Well, at least he didn't do that." He growled. "I should have hurt him. I should have torn him limb from limb." He said angrily.

"Adrien, I'm glad you didn't." Marinette said and she grabbed his wrist gently. They locked eyes and Marinette could see the turmoil that Adrien was going through. "It's not your fault, you know?" She asked. Adrien broke eye contact and nodded.

"I just...it was him this whole time." He stated.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a few moments of silence. Adrien just stared down as he sat down on the edge of the bed with his back to her.

"I assume he had his reasons. The police questioned me while you were still with Master Fu. It took him hours to get you to where you are now. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you. This is all my fault." He said, keeping his gaze away from her. "If I hadn't given away the ring, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I would have been there to protect you." He said.

"If you hadn't given away the ring you would have suffered and we never would have found him." She said.

"And you wouldn't have gotten hurt." He reiterated.

"Adrien. I'm fine." She said and Adrien shot a glare over his shoulder at her, clearly telling her that he knew she wasn't. "If anything, this is my fault. I went in there with no help, knowing that I was probably going to Hawkmoth." She said. She then bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him that his father had known about her anyway.

"What is it?" Adrien asked, noticing her hesitation.

"Nothing." She said.

"No, what is it?" He insisted.

"Somehow he knew who I was...before he removed my mask. He'd said that an IT worker told him...the same IT worker that gave him your miraculous." She said hesitantly.

"You told Marcus who you were? You told him in two months, but wouldn't tell me for years?" He asked, starting to become angry.

"No, no. I didn't tell him. I don't know how he figured it out, but I don't think he would have been lying." She said. Adrien looked at her with a curious look on his face. He then nodded without a word after a moment. At that moment, Plagg peeked out of Adrien's shirt pocket.

"Tikki!" He shrieked as he flew out of the pocket at top speed to the other kwami.

"You're just now noticing her?" Adrien asked.

"Hey, some of us need beauty sleep. You could use a bit more of it, that's for sure." Plagg stated before the two kwamis started flying around the room, chasing each other.

"Plagg." Adrien groaned as he put his head into his hand. Marinette smiled as she watched the kwamis. She hadn't seen Tikki be this energetic for months. Adrien sighed.

"You never answered my question." Marinette said absently as she watched the kwamis.

"Hm?" Adrien turned to look at her again. Marinette leaned over slightly to make eye contact.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Adrien thought for a moment. "No." He said simply. Marinette nodded.

"What can I do?" She asked.

"Heal." He said briefly.

"Anything else?" She asked. Adrien thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'll need you to stay here for a little bit alone. You need to stay in bed while I'm gone because I won't be here to stop you from getting up." He said.

"Where will you be?" Marinette asked.

"I'll be making an announcement and police statement as Chat about what happened with Hawkmoth." He said. Marinette nodded solemnly.

"You're sure I can't come with to support you?" She asked. Adrien raised his eyebrow as he stared at her.

"I'm sure. You can't even walk let alone swing through the city as Ladybug." He said. Marinette gave him a pained look as he looked away.

"Maybe you should put it off? Take some time?" She asked. Adrien shook his head.

"I just want to get it over with. I just hope he won't tell anyone our identities." He said, hesitant to say the last statement. Marinette nodded.

"Adrien?" She asked, thinking back to how she felt when he found her. When he looked back at her, she continued. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that I put you through these past two months." She said. Adrien stayed silent as he turned away again, his face set in concentration.

"Marinette…" he trailed off. He set his jaw while he thought and clasped his hands. "I...when we...did what we did I was hurt. But I got the chance to heal. And I know you didn't intend to put me through that, but you let me have that time and you worked with Marcus. I…well, thank you." He said.

"You can't thank me, I kept pushing you. First I pushed you away and then pushed you to come back." Marinette said. She then finally had a moment to realize how the whole situation started. She put her head in her hands.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked, unsure of what to do.

"I just shouldn't have put you in that situation." Marinette said, tears starting to pour into her hands. "I'm sorry." She sniffled. "I've just been really emotional." She said. Adrien nodded silently as he watched her. He moved to put his hand on her shoulder, but stopped a few inches away until she sniffled again. He felt his own tears well up as he started gently rubbing her shoulder with his palm.

She finally looked up at him again, her eyes red and puffy and the tip of her nose a reddish color. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know what words to say, so he leaned in and gently kissed her on the forehead. He then rested his forehead against hers, keeping his eyes closed. "Don't cry." He managed to force himself to say.

Marinette pushed gently against his forehead with her own. "I'm just...so sorry." She said. Adrien's vibrant green eyes opened to stare into her bluebell eyes. As conflicted as he felt about everything else, he couldn't feel upset about Marinette in this moment.

He sighed deeply. "I'd better get going. Wouldn't want to keep people waiting." He said. "I'll be back soon." He said. Marinette nodded slightly, her forehead still rubbing against his.

"Just...come back and we can talk more." Marinette said. It was Adrien's turn to nod before pulling away and turning to get up from the bed.

"Marinette?" He asked hesitantly and Marinette didn't detect the nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I just...I love you." He said, as he turned to look at her. Marinette just sat with wide eyes and stared at him. She hadn't expected him to confess his feelings like that. Especially not now. It was then that she saw his eyes tear up.

"Adrien?" She asked as he wiped at his eyes.

"I just...you scared me. With...this." he said. "I wanted to let you know before I left the apartment." He said. Marinette was about to respond when he transformed and Plagg was sucked into his ring. "I'll be back in a little bit." He said, now standing. Marinette nodded as he made his way out of the room.

Marinette continued to stare at the door as Tikki flew to her side. "I'm worried about him, Tikki." She said, not tearing her eyes from the door as she spoke.

"I know, Marinette." Tikki responded.

"I can't imagine how he feels." she said, shaking her head. "Finding out that your father is a supervillain. And more than that, finding out that the only family you have is a supervillain who has been terrorizing Paris for years…" Marinette trailed off. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "I never wanted him to have to know. Once I saw that was where the ring was, I knew."

She sighed, wiping at her eyes as Tikki patted her on the leg.

"I never wanted him to even know about it. I wanted to just get his Miraculous and have that be the end of it." She said.

"He would have found out when Hawkmoth was arrested." Tikki stated. Marinette shook her head.

"Without the Miraculous, he wouldn't have been a threat. I would have left it as it was. Let him continue with his life as it was. Adrien never would have had to know." She stated.

"But Marinette, he needed to face the punishment for his crimes." Tikki squeaked. Marinette clenched her fist in anger.

"That would've only hurt Adrien. He doesn't deserve that." She stated angrily. Marinette wanted to help him, but when she tried to move to get up again, her stomach exploded in pain. Finally, she pulled up her shirt, curious enough to see the damage. What she saw were sets of four claw marks making their way across her stomach going in multiple directions. The cuts looked as if they were stitched together, but she couldn't see any stitches.

"Marinette, don't move!" Tikki shouted as Marinette stared at her stomach.

"T-Tikki, the suit has never torn before. Why did it tear when Gabriel attacked me?" She asked.

"The black cat miraculous and the ladybug miraculous are equal in terms of power. I wasn't able to protect you from his claws like I could protect against attacks from his akumas." Tikki stated. "I'm sorry, Marinette." She said.

"It's not your fault, Tikki. I shouldn't have gone there alone." Marinette said. "I just wish things had turned out differently." She said.

\----------------------------------------

Miles away, Chat was standing at a podium with flashes coming from the crowd in front of him. He had already made a statement to the police. Now all he had to do was tell Paris. "Last night, Ladybug caught Hawkmoth and he has now been apprehended. The threat to Paris is over. Ladybug and I will still be here in case any new threats arise." He stated. Suddenly hands raised from the various news anchors. Chat nodded toward Nadia.

"Where have you been for the last few months?" She asked.

"I had personal responsibilities to attend to." He stated and moved on to another news anchor.

"Why isn't Ladybug here telling us this with you?" He asked.

"She was injured in the fight last night and is resting now. She'll be okay. She just needs rest." He stated.

"Is she the reason you left?" Nadia cut in.

"No." Chat said simply and tried to move on to another reporter.

"Is it true that Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste?" Another reporter stated.

"Yes." Chat stated coldly.

"Why did he do it?" The reporter asked.

"We don't know what his motives were at this time." Chat said simply.

"Could it have to do with his missing wife?" Nadia asked.

"We don't know." Chat stated.

"What will happen with Agreste?" Another reporter asked.

"There is probably a system in place within the label for what will happen going forward." Chat said. He didn't think it would be good for him to get too in depth with what would happen with the label even though he knew it was going to be transferred into his name after his father's trial.

He answered a few more questions before he left. He quickly made his way back to his apartment, entering through an open window. He shut the window before detransforming and making his way to his bedroom door.

"Marinette?" He asked gently as he opened the door slightly. He saw that she had fallen asleep during the time he'd been gone with Tikki curled up next to her cheek.

Adrien made his way over to the bed and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead when he saw that her eyelids were puffy. It was like she had been crying. The sight caused him to pause for just a moment before kissing her on the forehead gently. He then moved to leave the room when her hand grabbed his wrist.

He turned to see her blue eyes blinking open. "It's okay, get some rest." He said to her in a low voice.

"Stay?" She asked sleepily, not releasing his wrist. Adrien smiled at her.

"Okay." He said, simply before she released his wrist. He made his way around to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her eyes shut quickly and she was soon snoring softly. Adrien smiled, the moment making him forget about finding out that his father was Hawkmoth for the time being. Soon, he allowed himself to fall asleep as well.


	15. Tikki and Adrien

Tikki had become concerned as soon as she saw Marinette's stomach. "Marinette, you need to go back to Master Fu." The kwami said when Marinette grew quiet.

"Adrien said that Master Fu did everything he could, right? He said I was there for hours." She said.

"I know, but you need to have him look at you again." She said, the worry evident in her voice.

"Tikki, what's going on?" She asked.

"I just think you should go back." Tikki said nervously.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, Tikki. I can't even get up right now." Marinette replied.

"Have Adrien take you back when he gets back." Tikki said quickly.

"What are you not telling me, Tikki?" Marinette asked, growing worried.

"We just need to talk to Master Fu." Tikki said. The kwami refused to say more.

"Tikki, you're scaring me." Marinette said.

Tikki looked at her holder with wide eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, Marinette." She said, flying to the girl quickly as tears started to run down Marinette's face again. "It's okay, everything is fine, Marinette." Tikki said. Soon, Marinette had cried herself to sleep and Tikki found herself sleeping curled up in the position that she'd taken next to Marinette's cheek.

When she woke, she saw that Adrien was in the bed as well. Marinette was cradled in his arms as both of them slept. Tikki moved toward Adrien when Plagg spoke her.

"What're you doing, Tikki?" He asked lazily.

"Marinette needs to go back to Master Fu. Adrien needs to take her there." Tikki stated. Plagg glanced at the young woman.

"She'll be fine, Tikki." Plagg stated.

"You don't understand, Plagg." Tikki said continuing toward Adrien. She was about to wake him up when Plagg spoke again.

"Let the poor kid sleep, Tikki. Marinette can go to Master Fu when they wake up." He said. Tikki glared at him.

"This is a matter of life or death, Plagg. I don't think beauty sleep takes precedence." She said.

"Look, she's alive. You weren't up for it, but Master Fu worked on her for hours. Trust me, there's nothing more he can do right now." Plagg said.

"He can check her!" Tikki stated.

"Tikki, don't get like this." He said.

"Like what?" Tikki asked.

"Overprotective of your charge." Plagg said simply.

"I'm not being overprotective. This really is important, Plagg. And I can't tell you why." Tikki said. Plagg raised one interested eyebrow, seeing how serious Tikki was.

"Fine, wake the kid up. But I hope it's as important as you said it was. Because to this kid, this moment is everything." Plagg said. Tikki nodded and instantly flew back to Adrien and started to poke and prod him to wake him up.

"What?" Adrien asked groggily without opening his eyes. "You know where the cheese is, Plagg." He added, pulling Marinette closer to him.

"Adrien, wake up." Tikki said urgently. Adrien's eyes opened quickly at her tone.

"Tikki? What's wrong?" He asked.

"You need to take Marinette to Master Fu." She said. "I'm not going to explain, but he needs to check her." Tikki stated. Adrien stared at the kwami for a moment before nodding. Within moments, Plagg had transformed him and the boy had gathered Marinette up again. Tikki nestled into one of Marinette's pigtails for the ride. Before long, they were at the Guardian's house.

"Chat Noir, Tikki. What are you doing here with Ladybug?" Master Fu asked.

"You need to check her stomach again. There are claw marks from after her Miraculous was removed." Tikki said, bordering on panicked now.

"Calm down, Tikki. There is nothing to worry about." Master Fu said.

"What is going on? Why is Tikki so worried?" Marinette asked groggily. She had remained asleep for the trip through the city, but woke when they stopped moving. It was still dark outside which only made the lines on the old man's face seem deeper.

"Come inside." He ordered, moving back to the room where he had worked to keep Marinette alive the night before. He sat down as Chat laid Marinette down and let his transformation drop. "Tea?" He asked, offering them cups. Both Marinette and Adrien shook their heads as Marinette rested, propped against Adrien. Master Fu nodded.

"Why are we here?" Adrien asked. "Why is Tikki so worried?" He added.

"Marinette, I know you have been concerned by how tired Tikki has been recently." Master Fu stated and Marinette nodded. "This is because she has been using more energy when you have been transforming." He said.

"Why would she be using more energy?" Marinette asked, worried as she stared at the serious look on Master Fu's face. He hesitated and drew in a long breath, obviously trying to determine how to tell the young heroes something. After a moment, he opened his mouth and started to speak.

\----------------------------------

Six years later, Adrien sat at a nearly empty bar, having a drink. He was always distraught around this time of year. After his drink, he walked a few stores down to a florist.

"I'll have those ones." He stated, pointing at a bouquet of white lilies. As he walked back to his house, he thought about what had happened six years prior as he absent-mindedly ran his thumb along the ring resting on the hand that wasn't holding the bouquet. He nervously made his way to the Agreste Mansion, the home that he'd grown up in had been passed on to him when his father was imprisoned.

He made his way into the house as quietly as he could. He walked to the kitchens to retrieve a vase. After arranging the flowers in water he brought the vase to a room off of the main hall. There were bolts of fabric still resting against the wall next to the door and drawn designs on the desk. Adrien placed the vase in the middle of the desk.

He then took a look at the most recent designs. While he was looking, his small black companion flew out of his pocket. "Hey, buddy, I know this time of year is tough. Maybe you should get some camembert. It always cheers me up." Plagg said.

"I don't need stinky old cheese, Plagg." Adrien said simply.

"Do you want to go for a run?" Plagg asked.

"No." Adrien stated.

"You can't keep doing this each year, Adrien!" Plagg exclaimed.

"It's only one day." Adrien argued back.

"One day every year!" Plagg stated.

"It's still only one day." Adrien said. "I think I deserve one day." He added.

"I just hate to see you like this, Kid." Plagg replied.

"Let's just go to bed. It's late." Adrien said. He then made his way up to his room. While his father's old room was larger, the blond had never had the urge to sleep in it. No, this was his room. That wasn't about to change. He made his way to his bed.

He briefly picked up the picture on his nightstand and smiled at the memory. He always loved to see the look that Marinette had on her face in the picture. It was taken right outside of the church as they exited. Marinette's handmade dress flowing behind her as both of them smiled happily.

After a moment, he put the picture down and laid down in the bed. "Can you get the lights, Plagg?" He asked and the kwami obeyed quickly.

"Are you sure you don't want to…"

"No. Not today, Plagg." He said. The kwami stayed quiet then as his holder laid and slowly fell asleep. Adrien didn't feel like he had been asleep long when a screech followed by something heavy landing on him woke the blonde. After a moment of confusion a smile spread across his face.

"Daddy, daddy, Grandma and Grandpa let me eat cake and cookies." The beaming five year old said excitedly.

"Oh, they did?" He asked, the smile stayed on his face as he turned his head so that he could see the raven-haired woman standing at the door smiling at the two blonds. She nodded without a word. "Then I guess we get extra broccoli tonight." Adrien said before he started to tickle the little girl.

"How was your day?" Marinette asked, referring to the previous day. Adrien's smile softened briefly and he nodded.

"It was okay. Thank you." He said and Marinette made her way over to the bed. She sat next to the two.

"I know it's always hard for you." She said. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked.

Adrien shook his head. "I'm just so glad to have my girls." He said, _'...and that he didn't hurt either of you.'_ he added silently as he sat up.

"How was he?" She asked.

"He still won't talk to me. I just wish I knew why he did it." Adrien said.

"Why who did what?" The little girl asked. Adrien gave Marinette an unsure glance and only looked back at the girl when Marinette nodded.

"You see every year when you and mommy go to see Grandma and Grandpa, I go to see my father. He did some very bad things and hurt a lot of people." Adrien said.

"Why would he hurt people?" She asked.

"I really don't know, Adelina. Maybe one day he'll tell me." Adrien said and patted the small girl on the top of her head. Adrien then kissed his daughter on the top of her forehead. "So, who's up for pancakes?" He asked energetically.

"Me, me, me" Adelina shouted as she bounced on the bed before rushing out of the room.

Marinette stayed sitting with Adrien for another moment. "You sure you're okay?" She asked. Adrien nodded.

"I just wish he would explain." He said. "It's been six years since we caught him and I still don't know why he was Hawkmoth." He said.

Marinette nodded. "Do you want me to patrol tonight?" She asked. Adrien shook his head.

"Nah, you took last night." Adrien said as he got up out of the bed. "Plus, you've got designs to work on." He added before giving her a kiss and changing out of his clothes from the day before.

Marinette watched him as he left the room, wishing she could help him. Soon after, she followed him in time to see the kitchen staff leaving the kitchen with frowns on their faces. She curiously peeked into the kitchen in time to see her husband and daughter trying to make pancakes in seemingly in the messiest way possible. She wondered if there was even any batter left in the bowl that Adelina was mixing vigorously as it all seemed to be on the counter, Adrien, and Adelina. A smile formed on Marinette's face as she watched the two giggle as they played.


	16. Fluffy Bonus Chapter

***Spoilers***

If you haven't read all of the last 15 chapters, please do so before proceeding. There are major spoilers in this fluffy bonus chapter.

You have been warned.

\---------------------------------------

"Marinette, I know you have been concerned by how tired Tikki has been recently." Master Fu stated and Marinette nodded. "This is because she has been using more energy when you have been transforming." He said.

"Why would she be using more energy?" Marinette asked, worried as she stared at the serious look on Master Fu's face. He hesitated and drew in a long breath, obviously trying to determine how to tell the young heroes something. After a moment, he opened his mouth and started to speak.

"When you transform, the suit that Tikki gives you protects you from a lot of the danger that you encounter." Master Fu said. He paused for a moment, gauging Marinette and Adrien's reactions. Marinette stared at him with wide eyes while Adrien placed a protective arm around Marinette as she laid against him.

"So, it's taking her more energy to protect me?" Marinette asked.

Master Fu nodded. "Indeed, it is." He said.

"Why would it take her more energy? Is something wrong?" Adrien asked, worried.

"No, no. Nothing like that." Master Fu said. "It's just that there's more for Tikki to protect now." He said. Marinette looked at him, groggy and confused.

"I don't think I've gained any weight…" Marinette trailed off, wondering what Master Fu could mean.

"I don't think that's what he means." Adrien said, his voice squeaking as he spoke. Marinette glanced at him and saw that his eyes were wide and trained on Master Fu for confirmation of his suspicions.

Master Fu smiled. "It certainly is not." He said. "You must have noticed some of the signs. Nausea, mood swings, generally feeling tired?" He said.

Marinette's brow scrunched in confusion as she thought. "But…those are symptoms of pregnancy…" she said. Master Fu smiled at her. "But I'm not pregnant...I...I don't think I'm pregnant." She said.

She could feel Adrien gulp as she laid against him. "M-Marinette...we didn't use…" he trailed off.

"But I'm not pregnant. I had my…." She trailed off, thinking about when her last period was. "...oh…" she trailed off as she realized that she hadn't had a period since before her time with Chat. She looked up at Master Fu and saw that he was still smiling at her.

"It's not the first time a miraculous user has had a baby." Matter Fu said.

"B-but I've been fighting...and she...he…the baby could be...is it hurt?" She asked before her eyes grew wide. "I got drunk!" She said, starting to panic and moving despite the pain that moving caused.

"Calm down, Ladybug. I checked on your baby last night. It hasn't suffered any damage." Master Fu said.

"S-so, it's okay? I haven't...messed it up?" She asked worried.

Master Fu chuckled. "No, Ladybug, you haven't messed it up. But you'll need to remember to bring Tikki in every few months still." He said.

"So, I can still be Ladybug while I'm pregnant?" She asked. Master Fu nodded.

" S-so...um...we...uh…" Adrien said unable to form a full sentence.

"Don't worry Adrien. I'm not going to...force you…" Marinette started.

"No!" Adrien said, startling Marinette. She looked up at him worried as scared thoughts started to run through her mind. She didn't think he would be the type to demand that she get rid of the baby, but suddenly that thought popped into her head.

"N-n-no one has to know you're the father." She said shakily.

"No...no that's not. I...Marinette, I…" he started to stammer and Marinette couldn't understand what he said after that.

"I'm keeping it Adrien." She said, firmly, her eyes wide as she turned to stare straight ahead, not daring to look at him.

"Of course. Why would you...that's not. I w-was...I want...M-M-Marinette...I…" he said.

"You want to keep the baby?" She said more for confirmation than anything else. Adrien nodded vigorously. Marinette smiled. "Good...because I was going to keep it anyway." She said.

"But I...I wa…" he started again.

"What, Kitty?" She asked.

"Mari…" he managed to say.

"Yes?" Marinette asked.

"N-n-no...m-m-marry m-me…" he trailed off. Marinette didn't quite understand and looked back at him again. "W-woul…"

"Holy Camembert, you spend years wooing her and being smooth as brie and now when you're trying to ask her to tie the knot you melt into a jabbering mess." Plagg said through laughter.

"Plagg!" Adrien shouted, panic covering his face.

"M-marry you?" Marinette asked with wide eyes.

"Now you're making her stutter again." Plagg chided, but Adrien wasn't paying attention.

"M-marry me?" He asked with a bit more confidence, feeding off of her.

"Wha...bu...I uh...yes?" She asked more than answered.

"Yes?" He asked, his eyes growing wide.

Marinette nodded almost as vigorously as Adrien had before.

"It looks like I'll be needing to send out the other miraculouses. Wouldn't want to leave Paris unguarded during the honeymoon." Master Fu said as he crossed over to the gramophone. Meanwhile, Marinette and Adrien sat and stared at each other, speechless.


End file.
